Zaina - queen of horses

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Movie
German title Zaina - queen of horses
Original title Zaïna, cavalière de l'Atlas
Country of production France ,
Federal Republic of Germany
original language French ,
Arabic
Publishing year 2005
length 101 minutes
Age rating FSK 6
JMK 10
Rod
Director Bourlem Guerdjou
script Bourlem Guerdjou,
Juliette Sales
production Philippe Liégeois ,
Jean-Michel Rey
music Cyril Morin
camera Bruno de Keyzer
occupation

Zaina - Queen of Horses is a German-French feature film by Bourlem Guerdjou (director and screenplay) from 2004/2005. The film goes back to the legendary Moroccan " Queen of Horses " Fatyn. The myth comes from the Atlas Mountains and describes the story of alleged horse thieves , whom Fatyn came to the rescue as a good spirit.

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Zaina, the main character in the film, is based on this mythical figure. After the death of her mother, the eleven-year-old has to go to her father, whom she never met because he left her mother Selma before she was born. Her only alternative would be her rich and powerful stepfather, Omar, who is responsible for her mother's death and is very possessive of her as well. Zaina and her father Mustafa are both silent, solitary people and don't get on well with each other from the start. Nevertheless, Mustafa takes his strange daughter with him.

She discovers her love for the only creature Mustafa gets along with early on: the breeding stallion Zingal, the pride and joy of breeding Mustafa's line. Some of Mustafa tribesmen take part in the famous Agdal - horse racing in Marrakech in part; he leads the group and takes Zaina with him to Marrakech. However, he doesn't want her to ride; Zaina has to walk miles and miles, and her travel companion Kadour, who takes her on his horse out of pity, is then forbidden by Mustafa. Zaina doesn't understand this behavior and is obstinate towards her father. She wants to break away from the group in Marrakech and work as a healer - Selma taught her a lot about medicinal herbs as well as reading and writing. For the first time, however, Mustafa learns how Selma died: she had defended herself against Omar's intrusiveness and had been pushed by him, whereupon she fell and broke her neck .

Zaina is getting used to the hike in the men's group. Old Barak befriends her and tells her stories of the desert , of the dangerous horse thieves and their queen Fatyn, who was killed and now, according to an old superstition , returns every seven years to fetch her horses and kill everyone burn who stands in her way. He also explains to her the horse race in Marrakech and that Zingal actually has the best chance of winning, but Mustafa will not compete. And the proud stallion does not tolerate anyone other than him - all the more amazed the men of the group when Zaina approaches Zingal without difficulty.

The peace does not last long; Omar has got it into his head to claim Zaina as a replacement for Selma. When he and his men attack the group, Mustafa claims to his companions that they are just horse thieves. One day later Omar caught up with the group; A short but bitter fight breaks out, during which Mustafa takes Omar's uncle hostage in order to buy his free withdrawal. Zaina rejects Omar's offer to go back with him. But he reminds her that Mustafa left her and Selma and thus dishonored her. Mustafa angrily replies that Selma didn't want to marry Omar either.

The group is a few miles away from Omar. But the men are angry with Mustafa for lying to them about the persecutors. Kadour demands that he take Zaina and go; the two put them all in danger. Mustafa stands by his daughter and fights against Kadour, who is younger and inexperienced and who loses very quickly. Mustafa sends Kadour back to the tribe, even though he's the best of the riders. The other riders are opposed to this, all the more so as Mustafa takes the most dangerous and arduous route through the Atlas Mountains to be safe from Omar . Finally, they turn against Mustafa and attack him in the night, throw him into a ravine and want to take Zaina with them and hand them over to Omar. Zaina, however, flees with presence of mind and the group disappears.

When Zaina finds herself alone in the mountains , her Zingal runs across the path, who has not let the men take him away. Thanks to him, she finds her father and can pull him out of the ravine. They continue to move on with Omar's uncle as a hostage and are only overtaken by Omar at a narrow gorge crossing. Mustafa sends Zaina ahead with Zingal, he himself uses the hostage as a protective shield. When trying to shoot Mustafa, Omar meets his uncle and again cannot convince Zaina to come with him, although he promises her a prosperous life.

Once across the mountains, the journey becomes easier for Zaina and Mustafa. The two also come closer to each other after Mustafa explains to his daughter why he has left her: her mother Selma was disguised as a man at the race in Marrakech twelve years ago and had won. When the truth about her got out, the race was voided and Mustafa was pressured by his tribe to leave Selma because of her moral violation. She had never told him out of pride that she was pregnant. In the meantime Mustafa no longer sees it all so tense, he teaches Zaina a lot about horse breeding and also how to ride Zingal.

Almost arrived in Marrakech, the two discover a group of horse thieves - and recognize the horses of their group among them. Mustafa is sad to discover that horse thieves do not take prisoners. At least he wants to get the horses back, so he sneaks into the thieves' camp at night. When he threatens to be caught, Zaina suddenly appears, unrecognizable as a child in the darkness of the night, with dark make-up, holding a torch and screaming loudly that she is Fatyn, the queen, and fetching her horses. The superstitious thieves believe they will be burned by her and let her and Mustafa go. Only one follows them, but is shot by Kadour, who is now on his way to the race again.

He catches up with his two friends and makes up with them. They are soon in Marrakech and Kadour has the best chance of winning the race, even though Zingal is not available to him. But Omar doesn't give up. He is now in Marrakech, duels with Mustafa and seriously injured him. Zaina stands for her freedom and her father's life: she promises Omar to come with him if he rides faster than her in the race.

The next day Omar, Kadour and Zaina are at the start, the latter disguised as a boy thanks to a Tagelmust and on Zingal's back. After the first lap, Zaina is doing well, thanks in part to Kadour's support. Omar rips off the Tagelmust as she rides by, but Zaina rides undeterred and wins the race. Contrary to Mustafa's fears, she is cheered from all sides, especially from the female audience; Omar finally gives up and Zaina has won the right to live where she wants. She decides against staying behind as a healer in Marrakech and moves with them to Mustafa's tribe.

Reviews

With this fairytale-like film for which u. a. the piece of music La Reine Fatyn was created, the French director Bourlem Guerdjou won the audience award at the Locarno Film Festival in 2005 . The work fascinated the audience with its impressive images as well as its sensitive music. The composer Cyril Morin has been prolonged by film soundtracks known, for example for Natasha de Betaks strip Kaal , for Pan Nalin's Samsara and Eran Riklis' The Syrian Bride . Together with the Bulgarian symphony orchestra , he implemented the mood of the North African mountain world and its inhabitants and also made use of a kind of music of the spheres .

“The interesting starting point of the film - when did you see an Arab western? - is diminished by the tense, predictable story staged. "

- critic.de - the film site

"Magnificently photographed and sensitively played initiation story full of exciting moments, which at the same time illuminates a foreign culture and unobtrusively includes it in an emancipatory way."

- Lexicon of international film

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Certificate of release for Zaina - Queen of Horses . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , February 2006 (PDF; test number: 104 796 K).
  2. ↑ Age rating for Zaina - Queen of Horses . Youth Media Commission .
  3. ↑ Brühwiler: Zaina. critic.de - the film page, September 12, 2006, accessed on July 3, 2013 .
  4. ↑ Zaina - Queen of Horses. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed October 14, 2016 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used