The Sand Castle’s ending unravels the pain and trauma buried deep in the minds of those innocent souls who lost almost everything to war. [Spoiler Alert] The entire narrative runs inside young Jana’s mind, whose family of Arab immigrants was stuck on a lifeboat, hoping someone would save them from the big “blue” monster that surrounds them. I believe the film could seem pretty complicated to some people out there, so instead of following the film’s narrative, I’ll try to explain the story it had been trying to tell, and I really hope that’s what everyone reading this explainer will be looking for. So, without further ado, let’s jump straight into it.
The Film Draws Inspiration From Real-Life Events
Even though The Sand Castle isn’t based on a true story, it seems like director Matty Brown was influenced by the plight of the asylum seekers and migrants who lost their lives near the Greek-Turkish border. In February 2020, Turkish authorities encouraged the immigrants and asylum seekers living in the country to travel to Greece without any official permission or confirmation from the Greek authorities. As per the reports, these people were traveling under false pretenses, which was why the Greek border forces retaliated and took strict actions against those illegally crossing its border over land and water. I believe a similar incident might have taken place in Netflix’s The Sand Castle, where Nabil, the father, arranged travel for his family, but before they could cross the border, their transport capsized in the middle of the ocean, drowning dozens of migrants along with it. It could be possible that in order to repel the immigrants illegally crossing the border, the Greek authorities had attacked the transport vehicle, thereby killing hundreds of asylum seekers in the middle of the water. A radio report at the beginning of the film established that Nabil, along with the other immigrants, was traveling from Turkey to Greece when their boat went under.
In real life, many asylum seekers sold their property and spent all their money to cross the border, and it seemed like Nabil, too, had paid some really shady people to arrange safe travel for his family, only to realize in the end that no help was coming. The Turkish government probably wanted to get rid of these immigrants, which was why they encouraged them to journey to Greece, while the Greek government had no interest in taking in more asylum seekers. These people were caught in a political conflict between two countries, and none of them was keen on helping them. In short, they were on their own, and that’s what the isolated island in the middle of nowhere represented. As per the real-life media reports, at least two men and a woman were killed in the border conflict. In the film, it was Nabil and his wife, Yasmine, who lost their lives, while their children, Adam and Jana, were probably rescued by the authorities.
Jana and the Rabbits Island
It could be presumed that Nabil and his family were Lebanese or Syrian refugees whose homes were destroyed in the war. Back in the day, Nabil had three children, Adam, Jana, and Yara; until Yara lost her life in a school bombing, and it was Jana who witnessed Yara’s death and was traumatized by the horrible sight. The bleeding eye on the school wall symbolized how many innocent lives are lost when they have literally nothing to do with such armed conflicts. She left her sister in the ruins and ran back to the house, later blaming herself for her sister’s death. I guess, after the bombing, all that was left of Yara was her “red shoe,” which could also be seen as a reference to “The Girl In The Red Coat” depicted in Schindler’s List. It was the same “red shoe” that Nabil saw when he took a dive into the water to arrange food for his family. His vision could imply that while stranded on the lifeboat, all he could imagine was his past guilt and things he could have done differently to save his daughter. Later in the film, Jana brought the same red shoe to the lighthouse, suggesting she was the one who found her sister dead, and her mother buried it in the sand so that the child could find peace in heaven as the world itself had been cursed with hatred and violence. Many people believe that things must be different in different parts of the world. But be it Turkey, Greece, India, or the US, the same cruelty resides in every corner of the world, only the mask of the evildoer changes.
After Yara’s death, Nabil probably left the country and fled to Turkey so that he could protect his children from the war and give them the life they deserve, unaware of the fact that countries will always be more bothered about their politics and self-interest instead of helping those in need. From Turkey, Nabil arranged a journey to Greece, only to find himself stuck in the ocean, helpless. He didn’t have any hope left, yet he wanted his family to “inhale” and “exhale” and keep believing that help was coming. I believe the reason why Jana imagined her family was stuck on Rabbits Island was because it was a place she used to visit in her childhood. Yes, the Rabbits Island, also known as Palm Island, is a real location in Mina, Lebanon (where The Sand Castle was filmed). And maybe Jana imagining the same island was her way of remembering the home from where she and her family were displaced.
Adam Saves Jana
The Sand Castle’s ending pointed out that the lighthouse that protected the family on Rabbits Island was the lifeboat they were stuck in. At the beginning of the film, Jana unearthed a yellow sheet on the island with “Rabbit” printed on it, suggesting that their lifeboat belonged to the same company. It was their sandcastle that was slowly being consumed by the water around them, and every character took their turn to row the lifeboat so that they could reach the shore before death finally came for them. At first, it was Nabil, the head of the family, who tried steering the lifeboat (simultaneously looking after the lighthouse and the generator). But Nabil was soon consumed by the horrors of the past, which was when Yasmine took over the responsibility of steering her family to safety until she eventually gave up. I am not sure if Nabil got wounded in the leg like Jana imagined, though it could be possible that his pain was more emotional than physical. He says, “No one can escape the past. Broken spirits are worse than death,” symbolizing his grief and how he blamed himself for not being able to save his family when they needed him the most. In Yasmine’s case, I believe she starved to death. In The Sand Castle’s ending, the sea of life took everything they once fought for.
After Nabil and Yasmine’s death, the young Adam became much more considerate towards his sister and decided to protect her from all perils in the absence of their mother and father. It could be presumed that Adam heard the voice on the radio (if it was real) and swam towards the light he saw on the horizon, believing it was a boat looking for the survivors. He went out to bring help so he could save his sister and, in the meantime, Jana, all alone on the lifeboat (or the lighthouse), took over the generator and delved into her own imagination in order to persevere. However, with time quickly fleeting, like the sands sinking into the water, Jana’s imagination turned more and more depressing. Her thoughts were like the small fish stuck in a glass jar struggling to free herself of the emotional burden and the loss she had witnessed with her own eyes, but no matter how much she tried, she could not forget the horrors of her past. Jana’s island slowly started to drop beneath the rising waves, likely representing the drowning lifeboat and Jana’s own hope to survive against the odds. She took refuge in the lighthouse and tried to start the generator when finally, she saw the light at the end of the horizon. It was none other than her brother, Adam, who was saved by the authorities.
In The Sand Castle’s ending, one could notice some adults wearing hazmat suits and masks on a ship that had come to save Jana. In real life, the incident took place before the COVID-19 lockdown (in March 2020), therefore suggesting that Jana and her family could probably be stranded in the water for a week or two before she and her brother were finally saved by the border forces. This could also be a figment of Jana’s imagination, which means that she, along with her brother, died in the ocean along with the rest of the immigrants who were killed in the political conflict.
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