A film by Danielle Arbid
With: Hiam Abbass, Mahamat Amine Benrachid, Shaden Fakih, Charbel Kamel, Alexandre Paulikevitch, Sami Dekhissi, Rubis Ramadan
Suzanne and Osmane meet in crisis-ridden Beirut. Osmane is a young Sudanese man without papers, searching for a better future; Suzanne is a widow with Palestinian roots more than twice his age. Against all odds, they fall in love.
Our rate : ★★
Danielle Arbid‘s latest work is a bold project, heavily inspired by Fassbinder’s All Others Call Him Ali. It is therefore a very direct address to the German audience, like a suggested analogy between two eras. It is a reminder of Arbid’s previous films, particularly in terms of her perspective and approach to themes, with a tendency to stand outside conventions, even to challenge them. Formally, however, the remake never quite matches its model, neither in its imagination nor in the quality of its direction or its power, despite Hiam Abass‘s convincing performance.