The Source (2011)

That was an excellent one.

Sorry, this movie sucks

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

With this last movie with Leila, i find the missing piece in the recollection of my friendship with « my » Leila. It's about her roots, in other words, the life in North Africa. I went there with all the family once and if their way of living was peaceful and pleasant. In this movie, I didn't recognize: we are stuck in a jerkwater village, lost in the arid mountains. Everything is hideous : the houses with no water, no electricity, the rags, the songs... The people are blind with tradition, the relationships are awful : women and men are segregated, abusive intimacy, lack of education and all this in the name of faith and culture. Sure, it's the ideal ground for an explosive drama. But the story isn't up to the task, the characters aren't interesting, the rhythm is terribly sluggish, so the watching is painful. If it's also as Manichean than « Synghe Sabour », the latter is much better and less suffocating.

I don't know what I'm voting on. Lysistrada by Aristophenes was much wittier, but the point of this movie is not wit.Perhaps I'm voting on the wonder that it was made at all. We in the west have a very different view of what Muslim countries should produce given our media.This film does not fit into that category. None that I've seen do. None proclaim death to the west. None want to commit murder in the hope of getting multiple virgins as a reward.None do anything but examine daily life. What was set in Toronto Canada. A second was set in the middle east on the Israeli Lebonon border, a third was made in New York and now this one from North Africa. All of them were gentle films that made comments about the human condition.And all including this one were well worth seeing. The film is a little long and the music is an acquired taste, but be patient. It will reward a patient viewer.

Maybe the problem was to read about the movie before watching it. But I really was disappointed. I admit that my expectations were high. I found the story too linear. The kind of movie that you know how it ends at the first 15 minutes. The subject is interesting. If it was treated with more creativity, would be a less boring movie. I think when you are making a movie and thinking about how to teach people from a different culture how to think, is not an easy task. But still it is a good attempt to bring to the screen this kind of subject, at least people will talk about it. I do not know how accurately what he shows in this movie reflects the reality on those countries, but I hope people from those countries take the example that the movie give to them.

The Source is a story set in a small village somewhere in North Africa, a battle not just between the sexes, but also of traditions. One of the many jobs the women have to do is collect water from a well on a hill. One day, a distressing accident to a young woman forces her friend Leila to finally take a stand against the men and traditional values.Leila (Leïla Bekhti) discusses the situation with all the women in the village, most are against the idea for fear of reprisals from their husbands. The village elder Mother Rifle (Biyouna) backs Leila's actions and enforces the one thing that will hurt the men more than anything, a 'sex strike'. The men, most of which do not work through lack of employment, grow more and more irritable as the strike gains momentum. The women certainly know how to rile the men, passively mocking them in different ways to get their attention. But not all the women share Leila's passion for change, not least her mother-in-law Fatima (Hiam Abbass). Leila's husband Sami (Saleh Bakri) is one of the few men that support the strike. Cracks begin to appear in everyones lives, with both sides using some quite unique methods for getting what they want.Water is used as a symbol for the general plight of the women, and director Radu Mihaileanu covers many themes such as rape within marriage, illiteracy, and the role of women in Islam. Mihaileanu tackles such bold issues not just with a seriousness but with plenty of humour. This balance between comedy and drama works really well, and what could otherwise be seen as sentimental and emotionally manipulative is dealt with real charm and sincerity. Mihaileanu crams a lot of issues into 2 hours of drama, some sub-plots working better than others.Song and music are used really well in some of the key scenes, and its worth paying attention to the songs as they seem to resonate more powerfully, perhaps such a medium is used with more importance in such cultures? I especially enjoyed the scene where tourists paid to go to the village, a regular occurrence to help fund the village, and the women sung and danced whilst the tourists sat and clapped. The men were in attendance and clapped along, but soon realised the women had changed the words to the traditional songs to subtly mock the men for their absurdities. Its one of many charming scenes in a thought-provoking and entertaining film, topically on-point considering the current political instability in much of the middle east countries, adding a different and perhaps more human complexion that we can all relate to.