Haifaa al-Mansour’s best work is fuelled by a love of the open road. In her debut, Wadjda, a 10-year-old dreams of hurtling through Riyadh on a bicycle.
Here, Saudi doctor Maryam (Mila Al Zahrani, magnificent), likes to bomb along in her car, and enters politics so that local ambulances will be able to make haste along a stretch of unrepaired highway. What transpires may not please petrolheads (fans of Fast & Furious will probably find Maryam’s mission Slow & Sappy), but that’s their loss. It’s a joyride.
Maryam, seeking election as a councillor, makes her first campaign speech with face and body covered (only her hands are on display). On the internet someone complains: “So proudly showing herself off to the men!”
On a daytime TV show, a hilariously discomforted presenter assumes that Maryam wants to promote women’s issues (he wonders aloud if she’s fond of gardens). None of the characters, including Maryam’s sisters, are types. And music keeps wiggling its way to the fore. A female wedding MC riffs on the words “there is no god but Allah” in a way that would make James Brown proud. Maryam’s musician father plays some nifty oud.
Reviewers often point out that al-Mansour is Saudi Arabia’s first female director, forgetting to mention that Wadjda was the first feature-length film to be shot in Saudi Arabia by ANYONE.
She goes where no one’s gone before and makes it look easy. She’s got my vote.
Curzon Home Cinema, BFI Player, modernfilms.com
