What occurred in my search for Moroccan cinema was pretty much what I had expected to happen for a handful of countries when I first plotted this project. I actually found a fair number of films that I could consider as proper selections, but getting access to any of them proved to be extremely difficult. None of the films that I had on my list appeared to have garnered any sort of distribution to North America. In addition to this, streaming options for all of these films were effectively non-existent. And this was the case for Internet sites spanning the entire legitimacy spectrum. For this particular selection, worldcat.org indicated 8 university libraries within the US that were holding, what I presume were import copies. Unfortunately, none of these libraries where willing to lend out a copy through the ILL system. I grew frustrated enough to actually consider what I view as my final fallback option.
I considered paying money to own a copy of a film. NO! And I was so close to the end too! Okay Morocco, congratulations! You win the honor of forcing me to spend the most money to do this. I purchased a copy of Faouzi Bensaïdi’s 2003 feature from Amazon and had my hands on a DVD within 2 to 3 weeks. The copy that was sent to me was distributed by Optimum Releasing under their Optimum World banner. Optimum Releasing was later purchased by StudioCanal in order for the latter company to establish a UK division. This subtly hinted at the one major caveat with my purchase. I was forced to acquire a Region 2 DVD.
To watch an out-of-market DVD there are several different strategies to consider. The easiest approach is to simply change the DVD region code on your disk drive. Granted computer-based DVD players will only allow you to do this up to 5 times. And of course watching an out-of-market DVD may require you to change to a different code in order to watch your desired film and then back again to return to your ‘home’ market, thus exhausting 2 of your available region code changes. There may be ways to reset the number of available region code changes, but I haven’t delved too deep into how this would be accomplished. The second easiest approach is to buy an external disk drive and then configure it for the appropriate region code. Theoretically, if you purchase enough external drives and then set each one of them up to a different region code, you should be able to watch any DVD that exists anywhere in the world. It would simply be a matter of matching the correct external drive to the correct DVD. Beyond this you could also search for region free players, or if you have a standalone device you can look up hacks on the Internet to re-configure your DVD player as a region-free device. You could even dig into the modest market for DVD rippers or other DVD region killer software. If you know what you’re doing DVD region codes should not stop you from watching a film.
The opening shots of this film in which various characters stood on a hillside on a dimly lit night and stared off into the distance, displayed a sharpness and subtle beauty in the imagery that appeared quite often and was clearly the result of its excellent cinematography. With an early reliance on static shots, the framing was masterful especially when the action would simply gravitate into the camera’s field of vision as seen during a lengthy shot at a local restaurant. In addition to this the overhead shots offered some interesting perspectives as exemplified by the view of the women relaxing on a rooftop while the village kids played football in the street below, or perhaps in the shot of the boys looking down on Houcine as he collected some water. Of course the film’s most unique feature would probably be its tendency to capture the action through doorways and other entry points. One could argue that such a staging suggested a slight ambiance of seclusion in the lives of the people that it chronicled, offering the viewer little more than a modest peek. In general the exposition of the characters never felt particularly candid, and part of the reason for this was the film’s distant staging of the action.
During a short segment where Mehdi spotted two thieves in the desert, the film never provided a close-up view of the bandits. In a later scene involving a man trying to sell old newspapers, the entire scene was shot from a considerable distance to the point where one was unsure of the characters’ identity. Furthermore in the scenes that featured the character of Samir (who was ironically played by the director), he was either shot in poor lighting or shot from a distance and obscured by objects, which ultimately prevented the character from having any real presence in the film. Even if one could argue that it was appropriate to see Samir as a periphery figure in the lives of the main characters, a notion that the camerawork enhanced, the filming approach for other scenes wasn’t all that different. On a more positive note the distant perspectives did a great job of establishing the place where these people live, offering the viewer an opportunity to really absorb themselves with the motif of rock, gravel, and dirt that complemented the story with a somewhat bleak tone. Unfortunately though it achieved this at the expense of placing more focus on the characters, resulting in a film that often felt impersonal.
As for the other aspects of the cinematography, the mise-en-scène displayed moments of pure brilliancy. The staging of the excavator during one of the quarry shots set a rather mysteriously, ominous tone. The bucket sitting at the top of the frame ready to strike, transformed a scene that could have been easily forgettable, into something that was visually distinctive. As the film progressed it incorporated more motion into its shots and executed its pans and zooms with a great deal of grace. Often such movement would still result in shots that were impeccably staged. One of the best examples of this was the scene where the new kaid arrived. Here the swift circular pan as he stood up in his car to survey his new village was simply sublime, and still resulted in a terrifically framed shot of him and his assistant. The fact that the filmmakers captured this entire two and half minute scene in one continuous shot and still kept everything perfectly framed was impressive. Another highlight of the film was the scene of Malika’s death where the film executed an elegant pan between two different, yet equally artful doorway shots.
Furthermore the film contained its share of creative flair. I enjoyed the meticulously moving pan shots of the market at night which had a strange, yet captivating quality about them which stood out amongst the more austere portions of the film. An even more fascinating sequence was the shot of the fire burning through the wedding tent which eventually revealed the instigator of the blaze. The construction of this shot was just pure genius.
I also thought the film was edited in a manner that offered a great deal of pace to the exposition. Of course some may view the editing in a more negative light due to the dearth of any real narrative intrigue. While the story may move swiftly it still suffered from the fact that it didn’t really go anywhere and had no discernible direction. The structure was very episodic, drifting from one segment of the village to another without any apparent purpose or guile. I think most people would regard Mille Mois as a ‘character-driven’ film, and to be fair it did establish some interesting backstories whether that be the plight of Houcine or the tale of Abdelkrim, Mehdi’s completely absent father who the viewer never got the chance to see. The problem was that the film caught most of the characters during a period of relative stasis in their lives and the subtle, political undercurrents in the story did little to entice the viewer. Ultimately the film depended on more ubiquitous, banal plots. One would be the numerous attempts by men to court the affection of Saadia, Mehdi’s next door neighbor. The other would be the desperate measures that Mehdi’s family had to resort to in order to stay financially solvent. The latter of course forced Mehdi’s grandfather, Ahmed, to sell the chair that Mehdi was graciously providing for his school teacher on a daily basis. I must give the film credit though for finding a very compelling way to intersect all of these narrative threads in order to produce a fun and chaotic climax to the story. This film was odd in that the ending was far more fascinating then the set-up would suggest, even in the more fanciful uses of one’s imagination. This was a film that rewarded the patient and dedicated cinephile. The film should also get credit for its modest amount of humor. One of my favorite scenes occurred early in the film when the kaid tried in vain to push aside a chicken in order to pray. This scene did a great job of establishing a light, comedic tone to the film, which made it more enjoyable to watch. Still though without much narrative engagement, it’s 2 hour running time often felt very long.
The acting for the most part was good and when given the opportunity achieved a certain impact on the film. The lines of dialogue were delivered with conviction and often complemented with the right amount of subtle, nuanced body language and emotional inflection. I certainly thought this in regards to Nezha Rahile in the role of Amina and Mohamed Majd in the role of Ahmed. While both performances weren’t always particularly compelling or charming I can’t really fault either for their work given how thorough each was in portraying the near daily torment that their characters had to endure. And both accomplished this in a manner that went far beyond their spoken dialogue. Still though Rahile had the greater opportunity to show off her acting talent. This can be seen in the numerous moments when she got angry at Medhi and was able to express a sharp increase in emotion. The most prominent display of emotion though came in the prison scene where Rahile confidently conveyed her character’s indignation at being denied a chance to see her husband. Here Rahile did her best work in the film and generally I thought she did a great job in this role. There was a lot more to the performance than the impression of her that one might carry away from the film.
Fouad Labied in the role of Mehdi was nowhere near as polished nor as convincing in his line deliveries and thus I tend to regard him as the weakest actor in the film. Strangely though these qualities made him seem more like the child that he was supposed to portray and one could argue that this wasn’t much of a problem. Plus I thought he did good work in conveying Mehdi’s anxiety over his failure to properly fast during Ramadan. But ultimately this was the only portion of the film where one could see any theatrical potential from the performer. The film also contained some good performances from the supporting cast, many of whom got a decent amount of screen time. Meryem Massaia in the role of Malika, injected the film with a manic yet brash, youthful energy that was beautifully contrasted against the grim, downtrodden vibe that one got from the more mature characters. Her presence was really missed once Malika exited the story. Mohammed Afifi offered a crazed intensity that also stood out from the rest of the cast. His frantic, passionate performance during the downpour was one of the film’s most memorable scenes. Mohamed Choubi exhibited a forceful, authoritative persona when one got to see him as the teacher in his own classroom. And yet the actor ably showed a softer side to Marzouk in his romantic pursuit of Saadia. In the one scene of Choubi standing outside her residence while offering a cassette tape, he wonderfully conveyed his character’s inner notions of futility in his quest. This was one of the few scenes in the film where a performer’s facial expression was allowed to speak as much as their words. I tend to think that the lack of intimacy in how scenes were shot really prevented this from occurring more often. Say what you will about the performers in this film, but ultimately Mille Mois was not constructed as a true ‘actor’s film’.
Elsewhere among the cast I liked Abdelati Lambarki in his first scene as the “new kaid”, where the distinct dramatic flair in how he portrayed the character showed potential to offer the film a more emphatic personality. And while his exuberance was still on full display in later portions of the film, in the scene where he first met with Saadia there was something about his performance here that felt a bit lacking. It’s almost as if the performers often struggled to overcome the underlying sense of tedium that permeated throughout the early stages of the story. Because of this I could understand someone having a largely negative view of the acting, but I still think that there was enough quality work done to support the other aspects of the film.
Overall this was an artfully shot film that offered a diverse, yet lighthearted look at life in a rural Moroccan village and which proceeded towards an exciting ending. Is it worth burning two of your DVD region code changes to watch? Ummm… maybe not, but apart from such a measure it’s still worth watching if you get the opportunity to do so.