THE “WORLD’S” OPINION – NOT TO BE MISSED
A lifetime of going in circles to survive. The first image of Deserts, Faouzi Bensaïdi’s fifth feature film, unveiled in May in Cannes at the Cinematographers’ Fortnight, is a close-up map of Morocco, which two men in suits and ties argue about somewhat childishly. The piece of paper ends up flying away, carried away by the hostile wind that sweeps the track. Hamid (Fehd Benchemsi) and Mehdi (Abdelhadi Talbi), two sullen-looking debt collectors, only have to rely on themselves to comb the homes where indebted families live.
The camera moves away, and the Moroccan filmmaker and theater man, born in 1967, whose first feature film, A thousand months (2003), which won an award at Un Certain Regard, reveals the tragicomic splendor of the journey that awaits the viewer: Hamid and Mehdi, tiny as money clips, wander through a maze of troglodytic houses on the cliffside, including stunning beauty hides misery. Here, they take a rug and a goat, while waiting for the father to pay the late monthly payments; there, they board a van in poor condition, whose metal cut up by the scrap dealer will always provide a little cash – visits to this metal recoverer will give rise to other explosive and poetic surprises.
From misadventures to gags, the tandem in a red car paints the bitter picture of a Moroccan micro-society in dire straits. Here, superheroes are just men in disguise and paid with slingshots to host birthday parties. Faouzi Bensaïdi, who appears in the film as a grocer at the end of his rope, orchestrates some unforgettable scenes. Like this management lesson delivered by the boss of the collection agency.
Here is the lady at the microphone, vociferating in front of an audience of employees in flashy costumes (yellow, purple, red, green, etc.), who perform steps like puppets. It feels like a musical comedy without melody, whose title would be “These Gentlemen of the Safe”. Squeezed lemons may look good, but their ties look more than ever like a hangman’s rope, and their days are numbered. Hamid and Mehdi accumulate bad ratings and are on the sidelines. On the ground, they will have to invent new stratagems.
Bandit Freedom
In accordance with the adage according to which there is always someone poorer and more unhappy than you (more alone, more abandoned, etc.), Deserts deploys a scenario of fierce originality, keeping the drama at bay and preventing the pot of feelings from boiling over. Everyone is more or less part of the same ultraliberal broth which burns lives and atomizes destinies. Hamid and Mehdi are already lucky enough to be two, and to be able to share their intimate concerns and their projects – a little girl to raise for one, a marriage in sight for the other.
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