The String (2009)
"Le fil" (original title)

Malik has a lot on his plate when he returns home to Tunisia after living in France. He's processing his father's death, he can't come out to his mother, and his childhood anxieties have ... See full summary »

Director:

Mehdi Ben Attia

Writers:

Mehdi Ben Attia (screenplay), Olivier Laneurie (screenplay)

Stars:

Claudia Cardinale, Antonin Stahly Viswanadhan, Salim Kechiouche

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Claudia Cardinale	...	Sara
Antonin Stahly Viswanadhan	...	Malik (as Antonin Stahly)
Salim Kechiouche	...	Bilal
Driss Ramdi	...	Hakim
Ramla Ayari	...	Siryne
Ali Mrabet	...	Wassim (as Ali M'Rabet)
Abir Bennani	...	Leila
Rihab Mejri	...	Wafa
Lotfi Dziri	...	Abdelaziz
Hosni Khaled	...	Moncef
Anissa B'Diri	...	Aida (as Anissa Bediri)
Djaouida Vaughan	...	Frida (as Djaouida Tamzali Vaughan)
Nejia Zemni	...	La grand-mère de Malik
Mohamed Graïaa	...	Le fou de la plage (as Mohamed Grayaa)
Hakim Boumsaoudi	...	Le premier amant

Storyline

Malik has a lot on his plate when he returns home to Tunisia after living in France. He's processing his father's death, he can't come out to his mother, and his childhood anxieties have resurfaced. But all of Malik's problems seem to fade away when he falls for Bilal, the dreamy houseboy at his mother's bourgeois estate.

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Plot Keywords:

france | tunisia | crying | racism | kissing | 

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Taglines:

A Scorching Romance

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

France Belgium Tunisia

Language:

French Arabic

Release Date:

12 May 2010 (France)

Also Known As:

The String

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Need Productions, Propaganda Production, Mille et Une Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

"La Bambola"
Performed by Patty Pravo

User Reviews

fun film. Gay interest, in a challenging locale.

Our hero returns home to his mother's house and must face issues that he was able to avoid by spending time away. Antonin Stahly-Vishwanadan is Malik, a gay man, who keeps running into Mom's servant Bilal, played by Salim Kechiouche. My complaint here is the music. It frequently doesn't reflect the correct mood of what's taking place in the scene. They use eerie violin music in much of the film, even when people are happy, or just driving down the country road. It might be helpful to match the music to the mood of the action or scene. Also, the bit about the string got annoying after a while, even if it IS the title and theme of the film. Don't want to give away spoilers here… we'll just say it all hits the fan, and there are secrets and family members to be faced, in an Islamic country yet. Written, directed, and even a minor role by Mehdi Ben Attia. Attia had only directed a short film prior to this, in 2000. Enjoyable film. Good story, excellent acting. Mostly good subtitles in the TLA version….even if they did skip some bits of the conversation here & there. It's a shame that they did not translate more of what is said in the church... would have been interesting to hear what was said.