Harem (film)

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Movie
German title harem
Original title harem
Country of production France
original language English
Publishing year 1985
length 98 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Arthur Joffé
script Arthur Joffé , Tom Rayfiel
production Alain Sarde
music Philippe Sarde
camera Pasqualino De Santis
cut Ruggero Mastroianni
occupation

Harem is a French film drama by Arthur Joffé from the year 1985 .

action

Selim is a high-ranking politician in an Arab country. During a visit to New York City he meets the broker Diane, with whom he falls in love. Selim has them kidnapped and brought to his harem , in which numerous women already live.

Diane tries to escape first. Later she learns from a woman who speaks her language that the women are waiting for the Sultan to summon them and that it has not yet been her turn. The women seem happy. You live in a large family and are not forced to do anything. When Diane is brought to Selim, he does not press her, and she learns to wait too. Then he takes her on a trip to the sea in his new Ferrari. There he confesses to her that he recognized her from previous incarnations. She falls in love with him and they sleep together. Then she takes the keys to his Ferrari, leaves the hotel and leaves open whether she will come back. But she goes to his palace. She comes back to the hotel and the two of them forget space and time.

The return causes surprises. Strange men are in Selim's rooms, having fun with his wives and using his property disrespectfully. The sight of a man brushing his teeth in the pool and spitting into the water offends the owner so much that he shoots the man. He tells his servant to shoot anyone who enters here.

Selim's uncle has since died and there is no one to keep things in order. The women open the gates to strangers. Selim realizes that he must pay attention to women if he is to continue the tradition. Diane also realizes that it has to be that way. She returns to New York and he chooses his first wife. He wants to go on a trip again. Before that he goes through his palace. As he wanders through the bathroom, his servant sees him as an intruder and shoots him.

Reviews

Time Out magazine wrote that the film could have shown the clash of cultures in an interesting way. However, it develops into a " listless " drama, which is mainly about whether a couple stays together or not. The end is " completely flat ". The sets and the camera work were praised, but the film as a whole was described as " little inspired ".

The magazine prisma wrote that the film thematized the " contrast between Western and Oriental culture ". He does not play " the progressive West against the backward East, but allows both worlds to come into their own ". The pictures were praised as " wasteful ".

“The intention to portray the attempts at reconciliation between two opposing world views in an elaborate entertainment film fails due to the shortcomings of the script and staging. They let neither the desired profundity nor tension arise. "

- Lexicon of international film

Awards

The film won the César for the costumes and for the poster in 1986 . Arthur Joffé, Pasqualino De Santis and the sound experts were nominated for the César.

swell

  1. ↑ www.timeout.com
  2. ↑ www.prisma-online.de
  3. ↑ Harem. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed April 14, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 

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