From Rosette (Palme d’Or in 1999) upwards, all sibling films Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne had their international premiere within the framework of Cannes Film Festival.
Dardennes key personnel are often torn by moral problems, either by work, frequency, or by love and loyalty.
It may not be the young ahmed the film has the greatest dramatic power that the Belgians of the nameless woman (2016), which he previously produced and where the young ahmed it has some points in common, of interaction, with regard to the sorrow of its main character.
Idir Ben Addi and Victoria Bluck, in a moment in the film by Belgian directors. Photo Zeta Films
The teenager in the title is a Belgian Muslim, who became a fundamentalist who, on his own account, believes that he is starting a jihad or holy war, guided by an imam or imam – an Arabic word meaning one who propagates the faith; here, the leader in collective prayer in the Islamist religion – and, convinced that his school teacher is an infidel or apostate, intends to kill him with a knife.
Fortunately for him and his teacher, he didn’t reach out, and goes to the detention center where psychologists and social workers help you.
The teenager of the title, a Belgian Muslim transforming into a fundamentalist. Photo Zeta Films
The themes, we say, are common, although in this case the main character is not from the working class, as in many Dardenne productions. The social realism of the filmmakers remainssame look about the morality of actions.
how to empathize
But the 13-year-old teenager also makes a difference, because it’s not that easy to empathize with someone who is capable of sacrificing himself for what he believes, and that belief drives him. wants to kill someone else. Ahmed had no father figure, until recently he was obsessed with video games, but contact with a cousin seemed to lead him towards a radicalization.
Myriem Akheddiou plays Ahmed’s teacher. Photo Zeta Films
If now he is allowed to lecture to his mother and his sister at home, how one drinks and for the clothes one wears. With the help of social workers at the center where he was posted, young Ahmed appears to be “reforming”.
is this it?
All included, the young ahmed meets other themes discussed by the filmmakers The promisesuch as the weakness of young characters (in The childwherein they won their second Palme d’Or), no matter how enviable their tenacity.
Mahina. The character of many protagonists of the filmography of the directors of “The Boy”. Photo Zeta Films
Ahmed goes through puberty, with all that it implies. And the relationship with the elders is also at stake, the elders exercising their authority over them, whether they like it or not, and the questions the film raises are more than just a religious issue.
It has to do with someone’s belief, perhaps in a C like that, in capital letters. The ambiguities, or the way in which the Dardennes portray the main character, follow the story with interest, beyond how emotional it is.
file
“young Ahmed”
Qualifications: Very good
Drama. Belgium/France, 2019. Original title: “young Ahmed”. 85 ‘, SAM 13. from: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. may: Idir Ben Addi, Olivier Bonnaud, Myriem Akheddiou. Rooms: Hoyts, Cinepolis Recoleta
Source: Clarin