great film
this is a brilliant,subtle and moving film.
one question, anyone who has seen it understand the significance of the woman??
i got the feeling it wasnt fully explained, or maybe im just stupid.
Suggi Varo RIP 1900-2000
I don't know what the role of the old woman was supposed to be but boy did she she give me the creeps. I'll definitely give her role some more thought coz its been interesting me ever since I watched it.
Great film as well. Cried my eyes out for most parts.
"You've exposed the page!"
I tend to take things literally so she probably symbolizes something that I missed but I wondered if part of the reason for her presence was to illustrate the father's ability to judge people accurately. The father accepted her while he was resistant to the other passenger they picked up from the very beginning.
shareI thought the ambivalent figures, the two accidental passengers encountered and alternately accepted by father and son on their road to mecca reflected father and son, tradition and modernity respectively.
The lost, homeless lady wanting to go to a destination which no longer or maybe never existed seemed to be an apt parallel of the traditional, religious father. Her reappearance on the streets in Reda's dream or reality sequence on the bus seemed to parallel his quicksand nightmare in the desert, where his father was a shepherd who did not recognise him when he calls out to him, and did not help him as he sinks into the quicksand. She is silent and incomprehensible when Reda attempts to communicate with her in the car, but speaks to the father when the latter asks her sincerely where it is she wants to go.
Mustapha has facility with western european languages, and brings impulsive, young Reda what he had wanted from the trip from the beginning: a more tour-like trip, bringing him around in Turkay to see the grand mosques, smoke hashish and also to drink, which is counter to muslim taboos. His easy, glib ways of getting around traditions, while seeking the easy way to possible salvation (conveniently hopping onto the car as a passenger to Mecca instead of making his own way there) make him a sympathetic figure for the son, Reda. The father tells Reda not to believe everything Mustapha tells him, and is naturally very suspicious of the man's easygoing, glib ways. He mistakes the stranger for a thief, while Reda was able to discover the man's innocence later, making the son even more distrusting of the father's sense of judgment and understanding about people and life.
Nice analysis, Kapture. I completely agree.
The woman's silence linked to the father too, whereas Mustapha's nattering jarred like the ringing of Reda's phone.
"See that clock?...In five minutes you're not going to belive what I've just told you"
loved your analysis kapture, and your addition to it belleseb. I did notice the father accepted one and not the other, but didn't notice that the son did the same. I guess I can relate so much more to the son that his responses just seemed normal to me and I didn't even take note of them. I think you could take it further with the money in the sock incident. The father mistrusted the man and accused him of stealing, but he turned out not to be a thief after all. maybe that says the modern ways aren't really as bad as the father believes. Also, if that WAS his body next to the fathers at the end (I'm not sure if it was...), it could mean that both modern and traditional muslims may be different, but are on the same path and are basically the same in the end.
The thing that kept catching my attention was how obedient the son was to his father even though he didn't agree with any of his fathers decisions. I'm wondering if that was just their relationship, or if that's how it is in france, or if that's how muslims are. I can't imagine anything even remotly similar happening here in the US. The movie wouldn't even happen because the father would say "you're driving me there", the son would say "nope." and that would be it. The son hardly even reacted when he found out his dad threw his cell phone away. that was strange to me.
I can't speak for French or Moroccan culture, but in many Muslim cultures the parents are revered. You are taught to obey your parents from a very early age, and because the culture is very communal individualism is heavily frowned upon. Not only that, but you are also supposed to listen to all the elders in the family (grandparents, uncles, aunts, etc.) passively. It doesn't matter how old you get or how independent you become, your parents play a pivotal role in your life.
shareKind of OT, but I was thinking that perhaps the money was never missing in the first place. That the father hid it under the seat so Mustapha would be blamed and they would be rid of him.