Exils (Exiles, 2004)

I had never seen a Tony Gatlif film before this but I already knew a lot about him. I was aware of his strong relationship with music in his films, and also that he is the first, and perhaps only, gypsy filmmaker, and I was very much looking forward to the film. Afterwards, however, I knew very little more.

Zano (Romain Duris) and Naima (Lubna Azabal) are two young French Algerians, with very little knowledge of their heritage, who suddenly decide to make a pilgrimage to Algeria. Along the way they meet other impoverished travellers, but all of them are going in the other direction. Surprisingly, we discover the couple actually know very little about each other - Naima is surprised when Zano celebrates her birthday, having never told him when it was, and Naima also has little trouble in cheating on Zano with a mysterious Spaniard in a bar. They also know shockingly little about their own backgrounds; neither speak any Arabic and when they later find themselves in Morocco by accident, they are completely unaware the border with Algeria has been closed for years. This extreme ignorance is obviously designed by Gatlif to create the theme of rediscovery, but I felt it was a bit laboured and unbelievable.

I expected, the message of the film was largely communicated through music. The film begins with a stirring tune mixing modern beats with a North African flavour, whilst focusing in an extended close-up, on Zano relatively light skin. It's obvious that the film will be about the combination of these influences, and the characters themselves are examples of it. Throughout their journey, both Zano and Naima listen to their own music, a mixture of electronic dance and North African rhythms, closed off from the world around them, and each other, by headphones. One morning, Naima awakes and performs an energetic dance, but it is almost entirely interior and Zano is excluded from her experience. Later, in Algeria, the couple will take part in a group performance, in the film's mesmerising central scene. For perhaps ten minutes, we watch as the group reach a frenzied trance like state, their bodies and minds completely taken over by the tribalesque rhythms. None are more involved than Zano and Naima, who have their ears finally open to their own culture and seem to be returning to a primordial state in connection to their heritage. At the end of the scene, whilst everyone else sleeps, Zano and Naima sit staring into each others eyes, having finally made a connection. The scene is remarkably powerful for its intensity, energy and longevity. If only the rest of the film had been so artistically audacious, it may have been easier to make a connection to the characters and their journey.

The final scene, when Zano hangs his headphones upon his father's grave, is unneccesarily obvious and again labours the point too much when a more subtle treatment would have sufficed. Throughout the film, the progression of the characters is fairly uncomplicated and the film transpires almost exactly as you would expect. Duris' performance is fairly non-descript, but Azabal impressed me with her energy and playfulness.

I won't write off Gatlif yet, as he certainly seems to capture a point of view no one else is in European cinema is party to, and the soundtrack was great. I'd just like to see him express it better.