By Ron Wilkinson Nov 10, 2009, 10:30 GMT
César nominee writer/director Karin Albou summons a genie with this pair of love stories, set in the worst of times, that challenge loyalties to the limit
Writer/director Karin Albou follows up her César nominated “La petite Jérusalem” from three years ago with this high pitched anti-war, pro-woman statement set in dangerous and turbulent WWII Tunisia. Emerging actress Lizzie Brocheré plays Jewish Myriam and Olympe Borval plays the Islamic Nour. At the time of WWII the French and the Jews were the intellectual and economic elite of the country. Their girls attended school in the European style while Islamic girls like Nour were married and became household slaves as early as 13 or 14 years of age.
Although Myriam has an education and comes from a smart bourgeoisie family her father is deceased and she and her mother have fallen on hard times. The all encompassing poverty of the war and the thievery of the Nazi regime have forced everyone to live at a subsistence level. Thus the stage is set; the Islamic Nour has a full family, relative prosperity and half an education and the Jewish Myriam has a half family, no money and a full set of brains.
The theme of the wedding song threads in and out of the sumptuous photography and vivid scenes of street life and home life in the traditional neighborhoods of Tunis. Albou shows first rate direction as she takes the viewer on an expertly guided tour through the ancient hallways and alley ways of aged stone that hold secrets no westerner could understand. She exposes the marriage rituals of both the Jewish and Islamic religions of the time, viewing them in male and female contexts while contrasting the loving marriage union to the harsh realities of survival during wartime.
The film treats issues of sexuality openly and frankly. There are several disturbing scenes involving sex and more than one suggestion of lesbian attraction but these are handled tastefully and should be acceptable to most adults.
The men carry on the war while the women carry on the family. The tables are turned on the French-backed wealthy and isolated Jewish community and the majority Islamic women do not hesitate to use their new found power to advocate for their lack of literacy and worldly knowledge. The men on both side of the fence seem unwilling to stand up for much of anything.
In the course of the film both Nour and Myriam are engaged to be married. Nour’s marriage is held up because her betrothed, Khaled, can not find work. Such would be completely expected in time of war. Even in the best of times young Islamic males would tend the fields and haul stones while the Jewish males used their educations to become doctors, lawyers and financiers. Myriam’s husband is such a man, an accomplished doctor who eventually ends up hauling rocks as part of the wide-reaching Nazi slave labor plan. Khaled is forced to side with the Germans to make the money he needs to seal his marriage.
Nour marries for love and her husband is forced into despicable duty for his love of her. Myriam wants to marry for love but is forced into a marriage of convenience by the revenges of war. In the end Myriam learns the true nature of love and devotion to her husband and Nour learns that there are more important things than money when it comes to a marriage.
“The Wedding Song” brings lessons that are as apt today and they were in WWII when Nazi propaganda used religion to divide their enemies in Tunisia while wreaking untold pain and horror on the people there. Although both WWII and the cold war have ended we must remain alert to the possibility of religion being manipulated to pit one friend against another. This film is a powerful cautionary tale about why we can not let that happed in the Middle East.
Albou shows the traditional female life in stark and often painful detail as timeless ritual are carried out prior to and after marriage. Some of these are well known and some are little known; but even in the face of that harshness there is love, understanding and sisterhood that pervade every scene. The hope for tomorrow arises from the pain of the present day.
Directed and Written by: Karin Albou
Starring: Lizzie Brocheré and Olympe Borval
Release: October 23, 2009MPAA: Not RatedRuntime: 100 minutesCountry: France / Tunisia Language: Arabic / French Color: Color
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