Theeb

It's not fair to say the Western is dead or even dormant - for all people complain about how many superhero movies there are now, there are probably roughly the same number of westerns, a genre whose passing we frequently worry about - but sometimes you have to kind of stretch the definition. I'm guessing I know a fair number of folks who would take umbrage to the idea that this most American of genres could have a noteworthy entry from the middle east, but that's the way it works sometimes.

Worth checking out if it plays your area, though. The booking in Boston is only through Thursday, and while I wouldn't be shocked if it stuck around in one way or another, why not be sure and carve out an evening this week?

Theeb

* * * ¾ (out of four)
Seen 5 December 2015 in Landmark Kendall Square #9 (first-run, DCP)

The Western never really dies; it just picks up and moves to unexpected places in unexpected forms. In this case, that's a coming-of-age film set in Arabia, and it's an impressive, thrilling piece of entertainment.

The year is 1916, the place is the Hijaz province of the Ottoman Empire, part of what will later become Saudi Arabia and currently the home of a Bedouin tribe whose sheik has passed away in the last year. Enter an English soldier, Edward (Jack Fox), who along with his translator is looking for a guide to a well on the old pilgrims' path to Mecca where he would reconnect with his regiment. The old sheik's second son, Hussein (Hussein Salameh Al-Sweihiyeen) volunteers. Perhaps not unexpectedly, his younger brother Theeb (Jacir Eid Al-Hweitat), a boy of about ten, follows, and with the schedule being too tight for Hussein to bring Theeb home, he continues with them, despite the dangers of the desert and raiders.

"Theeb" means wolf, and though the boy has a prickly manner, that's the sort of name that he's a fair distance from fitting, as we see from his nervousness when asked to kill a goat in preparation for the night's feast early on. Writer/director Naji Abu Nowar does not spend much time explicitly laying out the boy's story, but it's perhaps not tremendously difficult to figure out - formerly the chief's son and thus important, now very close to one brother but not the other, he's a child without a clear place or obvious skills who nevertheless feels he should be important. That sort of vagueness is probably somewhat convenient when working with a child actor like Jacir Eid All-Hweitat; it lets him capture how Theeb can be somewhat presumptuous but also lonely even within a tight-knit community without ever having the audience feel that something doesn't fit. It makes the boy captivating to watch - there is always a great conflict between the powerful emotions driving him and what he seems capable of actually doing.

Full review on EFC.

Boston Sci-Fi Film Fest 2013 Day 2: When Time Becomes a Woman

The second day had a repeat from the first at 7pm (Found in Time), so I took the opportunity to bank an extra half-hour at work, do some grocery shopping, and relax a little bit before heading back up the Red Line for this one. Under certain circumstances, I might have bailed, but, hey, I paid money, I don't recall ever seeing a movie from Jordan, and this one had actually amassed some positive reviews.

And it's all right, for what it is - one of those art-house films that is all dialogue and striking imagery, though it doesn't really integrate them exceptionally well or use many of the other tools in the filmmaker's toolbox. My sense was that the audience was grumbly and somewhat dissatisfied after, perhaps hoping for a more active picture.

When Time Becomes a Woman

* * ½ (out of four)
Seen 11 February 2013 in Somerville Theatre #2 (Boston Sci-Fi Fest, video)

I'm guessing that there's not a whole lot of money for science fiction filmmaking in Jordan, which is why When Time Becomes a Woman not only feels less like a movie than a one-act play, but also has everybody in the cast and crew pulling triple- or quadruple-duty behind the scenes. So, adjust expectations accordingly, perhaps - odds are it won't blow your mind but it may be an interestingly different experience.

A man (Zaid Baqaeen) and a woman (Najwan Baqaeen) meet in a thin strip of land between the mountains and the water, with the man saying he has searched for her for three years, and he needs for her to return with him or the world will end. She's skeptical, wanting more information, especially once he claims to be Zad, a great revolutionary that she has read much about.

Now, if these two were sensible people who answered reasonable questions when asked rather than offering up a question of their own in philosophical opposition to the other's supposed meaning, this might be a ten or fifteen minute movie, rather than one that runs seventy-three (including leisurely credit roll). After all, Zad wants something, she wants a reason why she should, so communicate some information, already. Have a spirited debate on the ethics of the situation! These games may superficially make the movie sound intellectual, but at times the circles they run in can get frustrating.

Full review on eFilmCritic.