Touted as the first Jordanian independent film to show in the West, “Captain Abu Raed” is a beguiling story of dreams, friendship, forgiveness, and sacrifice. Its strength is its simple story and well-developed protagonist. Abu Raed is a janitor at Amman’s International Airport, who one day finds an old pilot’s hat in the trash. The neighborhood children immediately assume that he’s a world-traveling pilot when they see him wearing the hat. Enjoying the children’s awe, Abu Raed begins to tell them stories of places he’s only read about. However, one boy, Murad (Houssein Al-Sous), who resents the sense of hope Abu Raed instills in the children, soon exposes the Captain as a fraud. Meanwhile, Abu Raed’s friendship with Nour (Rana Sultan), a real pilot, begins to grow as she deals with her own set of pressures.
The details of Abu Raed’s life are noteworthy. We follow him as he performs his daily tasks at work, takes the bus home, talks with his deceased wife, and reads before going to bed. We also observe his solitary rooftop tea sessions, and his humorous interactions with his peers at the airport. We become fully immersed in Abu Raed’s life and the movie is richer for it. Sawalha invests dignity and humor in his simple character, a man who cannot resist trying to help others in need. And Jordanian TV host Rana Sultan is effective in her film debut. “Captain Abu Raed” is a touching movie, with a compelling story and powerful performances. It ran one week for Academy consideration and I hope it will be in theaters in January or February. If not, I highly recommend a DVD rental. Subtitles 11/13/08
1 comment:
This blogger does not give many "fours" in her evaluations so I take this as meaning this is a special movie. I completely agree! I was lucky enough to see this film when it was released for Academy consideration and it is my favorite for the "Best Foriegn Film" next year. It needs to be good to beat out "Mongol" for this award, another good one!
Post a Comment