HALFAOUINE (CHILD OF THE TERRACES)
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1995 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 6.0
Tunisia/France, 1990 U.S. Availability: varies Running Length: 1:38 MPAA Classification: No MPAA Rating (Nudity, sexual themes, profanity) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Cast: Selim Boughedir, Mustapha Adouani, Rabia Ben Abdallah, Mohammed Driss, Carolyn Chelby Director: Ferid Boughedir Producers: Ahmed Baha Attia, Eliane Stutterheim, and Hassen Daldoul Screenplay: Ferid Boughedir Cinematography: Georges Barsky Music: Anouar Braham U.S. Distributor: International Film Circuit In Arabic with subtitles
Although it has been floating around film festival circuit for the better part of five years, Ferid Boughedir's feature HALFAOUINE (named after the small Tunisian town where it takes place), has finally received U.S. distribution, albeit of the most limited kind (I believe there's only one print). However, while the film contains a few memorable sequences, it's hardly worth the kind of intensive search that will be necessary to uncover the nearest screening.
Regardless of the culture in which a child grows up, adolescence is always a confusing and difficult phase of the maturation process. In the Muslim lifestyle, where women's features are veiled and men assert themselves as the "superior gender", the male's transition from boyhood to manhood is all the more difficult. At the age of 12, Noura (Selim Boughedir) is regarded as neither a child nor an adult. His growing sexual curiosity has gotten him banned from the women's baths, where his mother took him when he was younger, but he is not yet old enough to be permitted to listen to discussions of "men's matters." His sense of isolation is profound. His father (Mustapha Adouani) is emotionally distant, yet warns him against closeness with his mother and aunt, saying that "men don't hang around with women." Noura's only real companionship comes from a local libertine named Salih (Mohammed Driss), who is the village's political outcast.
HALFAOUINE is a coming-of-age story that, at its core, isn't much different from similar narratives set in the United States. Most of the film deals with Noura's attempts to come to grips with his impending adulthood, and sexual discovery is a large part of that growth. Like many boys his age, Noura is forever trying to sneak peeks at the female body. It's natural that in a society where women display little skin in public that there is great curiosity about what lies under all the clothing.
Telling Noura's story isn't the movie's lone objective. Openly challenging religious traditions, the writer/director criticizes the cultural schism that exists between the sexes. As depicted in HALFAOUINE, women are objectified in Muslim society, and it's the lack of meaningful communication between husbands and wives that perpetuates the cycle. In addition to his social commentary, Ferid Boughedir paves the streets of HALFAOUINE with a political subtext that is difficult for an outsider to understand in anything but the broadest sense.
HALFAOUINE contains interesting material, but a combination of subpar acting and poorly-realized characters stains the fabric of the production. Aside from Noura, there isn't a well-scripted personality in this film, and lead performer Selim Boughedir is not a naturally gifted actor. He seems to have two expressions: a blank look and a silly grin. Because of Boughedir's limited range, Noura comes across as emotionally stunted, which results in a picture that seems big on ideas but small on heart. HALFAOUINE is worth a look because of its perspective of a different culture, not because it tells an engrossing tale.
- James Berardinelli (jberardinell@delphi.com)
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