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Saturday, January 21, 2006

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE?

Truly fascinated by this foreign film I watched:

LE GRAND VOYAGE

Reda, a young French-Moroccan guy and his father drive from south of France to Makkah for the father to do his Haj. The film focuses primarily on these 2 characters.

They travel 3000 miles or so from France to Saudi Arabia, going through most of Europe - Italy, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Turkey, then Damascus and Jordan, before finally arriving in Mecca. The journey wasnt supposed to be a tour, so there are no stopovers for soaking in the sights.

Walking and taking the mule is out of the question so he chooses to travel to Makkah by car. He can't read and drive, and therefore enlists the help of Reda, to his son's protest, to get him there in their old Peugeot.

But Reda, who is modern (drinks and leaves his religious obligations), doesn't see the point of having him go along, when his dad could opt for the plane. He resents the idea of having to put his personal life on hold for this pilgrimage he couldn't understand. Father and son (not the best of pals) set off for the journey. Reda speaks French, while the Father speaks Moroccan Arabic throughout the journey (and Arabic @ Mekka).

The beauty of this movie is to witness the development of the father and son pair, the challenges they face, the weird people they meet, varied weather conditions, and alternating rest stops between motels and sleeping in the car. We see an obvious generation gap in them trying to communicate to each other though through many encounters, they actually team up quite well despite their differences.

The final scene in Mecca is truly a sight to behold, and you too would feel the fear as Reda tries to hunt down his dad amongst the millions of people congregating. They did a good job to build up to the climax of the final destination. I am so amazed by the beauty of the holy city. And I swear I could see that yearning in Hafiz's eyes to do his pilgrimage again.

Some unforgettable scenes and quotes from the movie:
1. When the dad wanted to pray in the middle of nowhere at night (shows how devoted he is)
2. When Reda asked his father why he didnt want to take the plane, he said in Arabic
"When the waters of the ocean rise to the heavens, they lose their bitterness to become pure again. The ocean waters evaporate as they rise to the clouds. And as they evaporate they become fresh. That's why it's better to go on your pilgrimage on foot than on horseback, better on horseback than by car, better by car than by boat, better by boat than by plane."
3."Where is my cell phone?" asked Reda. "It's in a garbage can 200miles away."

No wonder this film won 3 awards in a foreign film festival for best producer: Ismail Ferroukhi (Moroccan director) and Best Actor (Mohamed Majd - the father). The producer was brilliant in choosing the proper actors. Reda, for example, is a French guy not a Muslim, cos he needs to drink and flirt in the movie and no reply to "Assalammualaikum" from him. Scenes in Makkah were shot during Haj season. No wonder it takes a few years for them to complete the movie.

Book it early cos I was surprised it was a full house at Cineleisure (mainly non-Muslims)! Bring your hanky along when you watched this movie!

naniz @ 11:06:00 AM                                                         

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