Masquerades
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Masquerades |
| Original title | Mascarades مسخرة |
| Country of production | Algeria , France |
| original language | Arabic |
| Publishing year | 2008 |
| length | 94 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Lyes Salem |
| script | Lyes Salem Nathalie Saugeon |
| production |
Yacine Laloui Isabelle Madelaine |
| music | Mathias Duplessy |
| camera | Pierre Cottereau |
| cut | Florence Ricard |
| occupation | |
| |
Masquerades is an Algerian-French comedy by Lyes Salem from the year 2008 .
action
Mounir Mekbel lives with his wife Habiba and their son Amine in a small village in Algeria. His sister Rym also lives in his house. She suffers from narcolepsy and has not yet found a husband. However, she has secretly loved Mounir's best friend, Khliffa, for years. Everyone just calls him Ringo and tries to open a video store in the village and thus build the financial basis for a marriage with Rym. Mounir doesn't know about the relationship and wouldn't approve of it. The gardener, who claims to others that he is a “horticultural engineer”, wants a worthy husband for his sister, whom he describes as a “princess”. One day Mounir and his family are invited to the wedding of Nadia, who is friends with Rym. Rym falls over again during the wedding and falls asleep, which causes nuisance among the guests. Two women who make fun of Rym and Mounir are doused with water by amines. Amine has to tell Mounir the reason and he reacts angrily. He gets drunk and shouts at night on the village street that he has already found a husband for Rym who is even richer than the wealthy colonel whose garden Mounir looks after.
The next morning Mounir no longer knows anything about his nightly escapades, but the news that Rym is getting married has spread at lightning speed. Rym and Habiba are appalled that Mounir wants to forcibly marry his sister. While the unknown future groom is already mutating into a rich man in the village gossip, who resides in a 4-star hotel in the nearest big city, Mounir has disappeared. He returns home that evening and confesses to the indignant women that he just made up the story. Both are relieved and plan to resolve the story quickly. You drive to the hotel the next day, stay a little in the visitors' area and leave again when a certain William Vancooten appears in the hotel, who is attacked by the press present. Back in the village, they want to tell that Rym has rejected the admirer's request. However, upon arrival, Rym sees Khliffa hiding from her family. Angry with him and his cowardice, she tells the tense villagers that she has met her future husband, William Vancooten, and that he is attractive, strong and brave. Khliffa, in turn, finally confesses to Mounir that he has been secretly with Rym for four years. Mounir indignantly announces his friendship and isolates Rym as much as possible from the outside world.
In the next few days, Mounir rose from a small gardener to a respected and sought-after man of the world within the village community. His respected neighbor Redouane Lamouchi can often be seen at his side, who used to not even greet him, but now showered him with presents. Together they even trick a businessman who wants to buy pastureland in the area. The wedding preparations inevitably start and Rym receives the first gifts from the village community. Habiba asks Mounir several times to resolve the messy situation, but he always puts it off to a more suitable time. At some point the point has been reached where he has to admit that the situation needs to be messed up. Khliffa learned from Rym that the husband was only made up, and Nadia is also privy to the lie. Rym plans to disappear from the village with Khliffa, but Khliffa cannot leave as he is the only one who feeds the family - including mother and grandparents. Rym is immensely disappointed with Khliffa. He finally matches Mounir on a street outside the village. Both speak out and it becomes clear that it is also because of their friendship that Mounir is against a marriage of Rym and Khliffa. However, he promises to consent to marriage if Khliffa manages to make Vancooten disappear. Khliffa yells in the village at night that Vancooten will never show up because he rejects the villagers and that Rym is his. Mounir's second request to Khliffa makes it clear that Khliffa will never get Rym, Mounir wants his sister to sleep less. The next morning, Rym's bed is empty. She spent the night with Khliffa and they both leave the next morning before Mounir can find her. Mounir disappears. Rym and Khliffa return later and Rym packs their things. She wants to get out of the village with Khliffa. By chance, a mufti knocks on her door, and Rym spontaneously has the marriage ritual explained to her - using the practical example of her in a wedding dress and her supposed cousin Khliffa. Both are married, while there is a great lack of understanding in the village about how Rym can prefer Khliffa to the rich Vancooten. Habiba found Mounir outside the village and informed him of his sister's plans. Mounir rushes back to the village, but can no longer stop Rym and Khliffa in their car. Since Khliffa and Rym discover that Rym has not slept for half a day, Mounir's second condition for a wedding was also met in the end.
production
Masquerades was the feature-length directorial debut of Lyes Salem, who also co-wrote the script and played the leading role of the gardener Mounir. Salem was born in Algiers and has lived in France since the 1980s; 80 percent of Masquerades was produced by French production companies. The film premiered on November 25, 2008 at the Cairo International Film Festival in Egypt. It was released in French cinemas on December 10, 2008 and was also released in Germany on February 8, 2009. Arte showed the film for the first time on October 2, 2011 on German television, where it was not dubbed, but subtitled.
criticism
The film-dienst called Masquerades a "lively film that approaches the subject of hypocrisy in a very humorous way". He recalled the works of Emir Kusturica , whereby he tried to “paint a positive image of Algerian society and not supply negative clichés.” For Cinema , masquerades were “patriarchal satire, which at the same time was an absurdly funny declaration of love to his [Lyès Salems ] Home is".
Awards
Masquerades won a FIPRESCI Award and the Muhr Award for Best Film at the 2008 Dubai International Film Festival . The film was Algeria's official entry for Best Foreign Language Film 2009, but was not shortlisted. Masqueraden was nominated for a César in the category of best debut in 2009. Mohamed Bouchaïb won a Prix Lumières in 2009 in the Best Young Actor category .
Web links
- Masquerades in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Masquerades on arte.tv