Sweet Smell of Spring (2016)
In 2011 Tunisia, as the Arab Spring awakens, unemployed graduate Aziz, nicknamed Zizou (Zied Ayadi), travels from his Saharan village to the big city of Tunis in search of a job. From television aerial installation to political intrigue, this fresh-faced young Candide will learn the ways of the world, fall in love with the ravishing Aicha (Sara Hanachi), and become famous.--Eddie Cockrell, FilmFest DC
Watch Trailer
Cast
Reviews
Just perfect...
As Good As It Gets
There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.
Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.
This is a charming, somewhat picaresque comedy about a naive, but partially college-educated Tunisian hayseed (complete with the ridiculous straw hat) named Aziz (quickly nicknamed "Zizou") who comes to Tunis just before the Arab Spring and becomes much wiser to the ways of the world as events unfold in his own life and in Tunisian politics. At first, Zizou is repeatedly hustled & used by various business, political & religious factions in Tunis, but he eventually falls in with an interesting crowd of characters in the souk (the open-air market) and begins working as a TV/satellite technician, a position that takes him into the homes of many in Tunis, some of them quite powerful.A large cast of interesting & believable male & female characters plus some beautiful seaside scenery make this a believable world that the audience wants to live in and explore. That's important because the plot is underdeveloped and the protagonist is generally quite passive.With the exception of a key subplot involving his attempts to rescue a beautiful woman imprisoned by the regime, the main character is largely afloat in the city, buffeted by the seas of the social change around him, as well as the machinations of others. But like Forrest Gump, Zelig, and Chauncy Gardner, he often ends up in the right place at the right time and often says or does something critical to the events that take place.Although not groundbreaking, this is a likable film that offers an off- beat, rather light-hearted (but thoughtful & nuanced) take on the Arab Spring in Tunisia.