Despite reports of documentaries that were filmed in the 1970s, the Saudi film industry began in earnest during the 21st century making it possibly the world’s youngest film culture. So while some may refer to this selection as an obvious one, there really wasn’t much to choose from. The country’s first feature films where produced during a time when movie theaters were still forbidden. Advances in modern technology though would ultimately render this ban as futile. The lifting of this restriction came at a time when people were not exactly wholly dependent on a movie theater in order to watch a film.
Haifaa al-Mansour’s debut feature was produced during the latter years of the cinema ban and achieved many historical firsts in her country. It was the first feature film shot entirely in Saudi Arabia. It was the first film in the country with a female director. And it was the first Saudi film to be submitted for a Foreign Language Oscar. It may also have been the first Saudi film to garner international distribution. Sony Pictures Classics acquired the US rights after it was screened at the Telluride Film Festival and subsequently gave it a rather decent run in theaters which lasted for about 4 months at the tail end of 2013. After the conclusion of this theatrical run, DVD and Blue-Ray editions were released in the early part of 2014. Currently there’s plenty of streaming options available, with the film being accessible on Amazon Prime, Netflix, Vudu and YouTube among other providers. As for libraries, according to worldcat.org there were 16 public libraries within a 20 mile radius of where I live that were holding a copy of the Sony Pictures Classic release. Within a 40 mile radius I would have 55 different public libraries to choose from. Naturally for this selection I chose to pick up a copy at a nearby library. I must confess that I checked this title out from a library about maybe 6 or 7 times over a two year period while working on this project. Normally I would borrow it just so that it would stay active in the system and not be weeded out. If you’re going to depend on libraries to do this, you have to game the system a little.
The fact that the opening shot of the film was directed at the feet of its performers may seem a little strange, but honestly it made perfect sense. It may have been the only thing the camera could capture that highlighted the distinct personalities of the girls in the school. Thus when Wadjda stepped forward clad in her Chuck Taylor sneakers it sent a clear message; this girl was different from the rest of her classmates. The subsequent opening credit montage in which Wadjda was seen listening to bland American pop music further suggested that a process of Westernization had taken place. The film did a good job of capturing these small, minute details that offered additional thematic depth to the characters. This excellent attention to detail also showed the particular nuances of how people had to live within this culture. Generally there was a lot of quality present in the cinematography, even if the overall style felt somewhat undistinguished. I thought the framing and staging of the shots were excellent, with the film at times capturing some stunning imagery. The distant shot of the construction site where Wadjda and Abdullah briefly meet was flawless and the overhead shot of the two kids as they approached Iqbal’s residence worked really well. But apart from some terrific perspectives the film settled for banal jump cuts, a modest yet graceful use of motion and sequencing that made decent use of both intimate and more distant vantage points. The shots themselves rarely lasted very long and the film was edited in a manner that provided the story with a fairly brisk pace. From a technical standpoint Wadjda was very polished and professionally constructed film.
Any complaints about the film being boring or tedious were more the result of the narrative itself. Granted I’ll give the film credit for the character development, especially with the fact that Wadjda’s motivation for getting a bicycle was credibly established. The further development of a plot in order to raise the cash for the purchase helped to secure a deeper engagement with the story. In spite of these qualities though the narrative got off to a slow start and didn’t do much to really grab the viewer in the beginning of the film. Throughout the film the story embodied a modest episodic structure and some vignettes were not particularly compelling. Beyond this, the plot was not very inventive or intriguing and its execution didn’t stray too far from the most common, conventional, ubiquitous tactics of filmmaking. I think there was some irony in that the protagonist of the film was someone who dared to challenge the social conventions of her country and yet the film’s execution of the rebellious maverick character trope was at times a dire, formulaic copy of what one might see in a Hollywood film. The film strangely took a paint-by-numbers approach in its story of a non-conformist.
Those familiar with ‘Western’ film culture might look at a scene of Wadjda struggling to read a passage from the Qur’an and see it as an effort to establish her as a sympathetic underdog in the contest. It also conveyed how much of an uphill battle it would be for her to win and how much work she’ll have to do. Albeit the film didn’t really commit to show much of the work that was done during this process. A later scene in which Wadjda and Salma both read the same passage from the Qur’an represented a common narrative technique whereby the strength of Wadjda’s competition was established in an attempt to create an aura of suspense regarding the outcome of the contest. I think both actresses did great work here towards this aim. When Waad Mohammed, as Wadjda, read the verse the words casually fumbled out of her mouth with little spirit behind them. By contrast Dana Abdullah, as Salma, sang the verse and exhibited a rhythmic beauty in her performance that made it undoubtedly the superior version. Mohammed’s sigh of exasperation was a nice additional touch to end this scene. In spite of this the lack of any character development for the other contestants made Wadjda’s victory seem inevitable and it was staged without a shred of drama. Even the two plots twists at the end of the film felt hackneyed, especially the latter one in which the mother committed an act that would have been completely out of character for most of the film. The first plot twist at least saw Ms. Hussa act as one would expect in regards to Wadjda’s plan for the prize money.
The fact that the contest had a cash prize was a strange contrivance that perhaps allowed the film to establish a different source of evil, one stemming from economic interests. Was it not Wadjda’s desire for material gain that drove her to extort 20 riyals from Abeer’s brother? Did it not force her to go behind her mother’s back and make a deal with Abdullah which allowed him to hang lights from their roof? To me the sharp jump cut used in this sequence accentuated this treachery. Did it not lead her to plead ignorance with regards to the indiscretions of Fatin and Fatima, forcing both to take the full brunt of Ms. Hussa’s punishment? The fact that Fatima was able to briefly call her a coward allowed one to see Wadjda in a morally ambiguous light. While this quality may make the character more interesting, it hindered the film’s ability to build any emotional attachment. I honestly couldn’t feel bad for Wadjda when she learned that the prize money was not hers to spend freely given that her participation in the contest was largely a facade done for ulterior motives. It was not impossible to perceive Wadjda as an arrogant, selfish, egotistical character. The film may have also subtlety expressed the notion that the lure of personal wealth is what causes one to lose their virtue, turning them into phonies and duplicitous schemers.
Despite any unsavory elements from the characters I still thought highly of the acting which to me was the best part of the film. The main performers all portrayed their characters with a great deal of vibrancy, conviction and emotional complexity. In addition to this they often perfected the small nuances that their roles required. While Sultan Al Assaf didn’t get a lot of screen time as Wadjda’s father, his first scene with Waad Mohammed was a happy, joyous one, until Wadjda’s mother was mentioned. Here Al Assaf’s swift transition to a more grave countenance (which a longer cut would have highlighted better) subtly conveyed the conflict in this relationship. I also liked how much of an effort there was to inject some personality and charm into the film. A great example of this was a short scene in which Reem Abdullah offered up a sarcastic response to Wadjda’s bike demands, for which Waad Mohammed countered with a comically dismissive eye-roll.
Reem Abdullah in the role of Wadjda’s mother was an interesting character in that she was a loving, supportive parent to Wadjda and yet also a woman who believed in strict adherence to the Islamic customs of her country. The latter would cause her to cower ever so slightly behind a wall while waiting for Leila to enter her residence which showed the depths of the character’s devotion. In her scenes with Mohammed, Reem would gracefully shift tones from cheerful to contemptuous and at times was as strict with Wadjda as Ms. Hussa was. Her best work though came in how she conveyed the turbulent end of her relationship with Al Assaf’s character. Here she adeptly gave the film the emotional intensity and gravitas that it lacked elsewhere. Combine this with the tenderness of her rooftop scenes with Mohammed, Reem effortlessly made the mother the most sympathetic character in the film.
It is strange then that Waad Mohammed played a character who practically scoffed at the traditions that her mother would insist be followed. In playing what was easily the most compelling character, Mohammed did a great job of handling the multiple facets of the role, confidently performing both the austere and highly spirited moments in the film. In her first scene with Ms. Hussa, Mohammed meekly bowed her head when being lectured about not wearing her headscarf. There’s a timidness in Mohammed’s performance here that offered a nice contrast to her final scene with Ms. Hussa, where she possessed the nerve to talk back. This early scene also served as a nice contrast to how she interacted with other characters where she was more free to be her true self. For instance there was a certain swagger that Mohammed captured when warning Abdullah that losing to her in a bicycle race would be a double loss. There was also something delightfully mischievous about her smile when she got 20 riyals from Abeer’s brother. In some scenes Mohammed was also able to add some humor to the film which helped it maintain a light, casual tone. Abdullrahman Al Gohani as Abdullah also supported this tone and early on did a good job of capturing the playfulness of youth. I’ll give both Mohammed and Al Gohani credit for making their characters seem like children in the scenes that they share which served as a pleasant, easygoing centerpiece for the film. In comparison to the more ambitious Wadjda, Abdullah was more friendly and virtuous, but also more modestly simple which made the character less engaging. Granted Al Gohani didn’t get too many chances to broaden the character. He did a decent job with the more assertive side of the role when he had to threaten Iqbal, but apart from this he didn’t leave much of an impression.
Ahd really seemed to enjoy playing the villain of the film as the rigidly strict principal. In her first scene she seemed to come out of nowhere to chide the students for their delinquencies. Throughout the film she could be seen as the personification of the oppressive Islamic laws that were inflicted on the students, with her irritable facial scowl offering what may have been an appropriate feature for the character. Although there were times where I thought Ahd made an effort to broaden the portrayal and play the character with some depth. One such moment came when she had to suppress her laughter at the Qur’an contest. In these scenes Ahd did her best work in the film. Her reaction to Wadjda’s plan for the prize money was absolutely perfect.
Overall there was considerable talent on display, but the film lacked a certain creativity and inventiveness that would allow it to be thought of as a seminal piece of work. I think few will regard Wadjda as a pioneering achievement for the art form. Although coming from a country that clearly had to borrow from the filmmaking traditions of other cultures it was a solid effort.