The vacant lots and streets of Casablanca are home to a band of kids who sleep in the open air and support themselves through petty crime under the tutelage of Dib, boss of their scruffy underage Mafia. Four of the gang, Ali, Kouka, Omar, and Boubker, rebel against Dib's oppressive rule and strike out on their own, running away from "home" a second time. When Dib's thugs try to return them by force, Ali is killed. The remaining three friends stash the body and set off on a frenetic quest to give
him a proper burial. "Maybe he had a sh*tty life, but he won't be buried like a piece of sh*t." Bound together by their search, they find meaning, transcendence, and a measure of peace. Despite their marginalization, the boys still long for love and tenderness, and they still dream. Ali's fantasy was to escape to the seas, become a sailor, reach the island "where two suns set," become the royal prince, and "meet a lovely woman." Set against the cruel street world, with its incessant rhythm of crime, violence, and degradation, is a sensitive, poetic evocation of the emotions of the protagonists and the dead Ali.
Ayouch takes a subject that could be thoroughly depressing ... and -- through a simple story line, dramatic acting and National Geographic-like shots of the city's rough and pristine edges -- creates cinematic magic.
Less interested in moving a viewer to anger and action than in eliciting a few tears of pity and granting us a warm glow of self-congratulation for having shared for a moment in the anguish of underprivileged others.
Director Nabil Ayouch balances the pessimism with gorgeous wide-screen photography, a wistfully hopeful conclusion and a succession of gracefully animated sequences designed to show his characters' more gentle inner worlds.
It's the beguiling performances from the three young children that are really captivating, and it's their sense of the comic and the tragic elements of their predicament that gives the film its enjoyable energy.
Interesting movie that centralizes around a small group of city street kids. Ali, Kwita, Omar, and Boubker live near the ports and watch the boats and ships there. Ali dreams of becoming a sailor. Kwita focuses only of surviving and looking out for their small group. Leaving behind a gang led by Dib, they fear the
consequences. After a brutal incident, Kwita now only has Omar and Boubker for companions. Mounim Kbab, Mustapha Hansali, Hicham Moussoune, Abdelhak Zhayra, and Said Taghmaoui stars. Worthy!
July 19, 2008
Leo L
Super Reviewer
A Moroccan film about homeless children on the streets of Casablanca. The title character is killed in a street dispute in the first scene and his friends are forced to find a way to bury him with limited resources. This isn?t nearly as depressing as it all sounds, although this is an unflinching look at young children
living in very desperate conditions. The film has a real sense of childhood whimsy despite depicting the gritty mean streets of Casablanca. What?s remarkable is that the film successfully has its cake and eats it too, it manages to simultaneously be gritty and whimsical, something hacks like Marc Forster only dream of actually accomplishing. The actors in the film are actually homeless children and the movie has a documentary feel but never revels in it. A very good movie from an area that doesn?t get much representation in international cinema.
May 25, 2008
MJS MJS
Super Reviewer
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