REVIEWS
Horses Of God Reviewed by Allan Hunter
The seeds of fundamentalist martyrdom are sown in the dirt-poor lives of young men raised in the slums of Morocco in Horses Of God, a thoughtful, compelling adaptation of Mahi Binebine’s novel The Stars Of Sidi Moumen. Inspired by the 2003 terrorist attacks in Casablanca, the film follows two brothers over the course of a decade as they make the life-changing decisions that will lead them to become Islamist martyrs. The subject matter will be instinctively unpalat-
able to some viewers but Ali Zaoua director Nabil Ayouch seeks neither to judge nor romanticise their actions, but simply to understand them. The result is an absorbing, well-paced narrative that grows increasingly tense and should attract inter- national theatrical interest. The story begins in 1994 with a boisterous pic-
ture of everyday life in the slums of Sidi Moumen for a generation of boys who fight, play football and scavenge the mountains of rubbish for hidden treasures. There is a sense of energy here that is reminiscent of Fernando Meirelles’ City Of God. Sweeping overhead shots capture a vision of the
slums as a giant anthill in which each individual is as insignificant as the next. Football and television soap operas are the main escapes from the poverty and absence of hope. Yachine (Abdelhakim Rachid) idolises his older
UNCERTAIN REGARD
Mor-Fr-Bel. 2012. 115mins Director Nabil Ayouch Production companies Les Films Du Nouveau Monde, Ali N’ Productions, Stone Angels, YC Aligator Film, Artemis Productions International sales Wild Bunch,
www.wildbunch.eu Producers Nabil Ayouch, Pierre-Ange Le Pogam, Eric Van Beuren, Patrick Quinet Screenplay Jamal Belmahi based in the novel The Stars Of Sidi Moumen by Mahi Binebine Cinematography Hicham Alaoui Editor Damien Keyeux Production designers Hafid Amly, Hind Ghazali Music Malvina Meinier Main cast Abdelhakim Rachid, Abdelilah Rachid, Hamza Souidek, Ahmed El Idrissi Amrani
brother Hamid (Abdelilah Rachid) who is seen as the favourite son and true man of their family. When Hamid is arrested, Yachine has a taste of the quiet life he might have enjoyed with his friend Nabil (Souidek), working as a car mechanic and dreaming of being with the beautiful Ghislaine. When Hamid returns from prison he has become
an Islamic fundamentalist, attracted by a religion that offers discipline, purpose and guidance to young men who have none of these things in their lives. Yachine follows in his brother’s footsteps but unexpectedly he becomes the one with a greater belief in the cause and the promise that “fly horses of God and to you the doors of heaven will open”. Ayouch works against the material’s incendiary
potential by taking a measured tone. He presents us with the facts and allows us to draw our own conclusions. That makes the final scenes even more chilling as Yachine, now called Tarek, calmly pre- pares to detonate his bomb in an Italian restaurant. The film visually echoes the emotional journey
of the brothers as it moves from the sweeping, sun- filled exteriors of the childhood slum scenes to the cramped interiors and dark streets of the conclu- sion. Ayouch is also well served by his choice of real brothers for the two central roles. Both Abdel- hakim and Abdelilah Rachid are impressive, char- ismatic non-professionals, with Abdelhakim particularly noteworthy at conveying the emo- tional changes within Yachine.
n 24 Screen International at Cannes May 21, 2012
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68