Death for Sale (2011)

In Tetouan, at the northern edge of Morocco, three young men decide to rob a jewelry store. The heist goes awry, and their destinies part drastically.

Director:

Faouzi Bensaïdi

Writer:

Faouzi Bensaïdi

Stars:

Fehd Benchemsi, Fouad Labied, Mouhcine Malzi

2 wins.

Cast

Cast overview:
Fehd Benchemsi	...	Malik
Fouad Labied	...	Soufiane
Mouhcine Malzi	...	Allal
Imane Elmechrafi	...	Dounia
Nezha Rahile	...	Aouatif
Faouzi Bensaïdi	...	Inspecteur Dabbaz
Mohamed Choubi	...	Hamdane

Storyline

Tetouan, the Atlantic port city in the north of Morocco. Three young men decide to rob a jewelery store. They are among the hopelessly unemployed street population of Morocco's provincial cities, common thugs in the eyes of many but bound by solidarity and friendship. They see the heist as a means to break out of a cycle of poverty that weighs on their destiny like a life sentence. Malik, a dashing 26-year-old man, is in love with Dounia, a cabaret dancer. He wants start-up capital to help rescue her from a life of prostitution and make a new future for them as a couple. Allal, the toughest of the three, wants fast cash to stake a solid entry into the business of drug-smuggling. Impish high-school dropout Soufiane, the young­est of the group, has his own motives for wanting to kill the jewelery store owner. But the plan goes awry and the men's destinies splinter.

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Details

Country:

Belgium France Morocco Germany United Arab Emirates

Language:

Arabic

Release Date:

12 September 2011 (Canada)

Also Known As:

Baya Al Maut

Company Credits

Production Co:

Entre Chien et Loup, Liaison Cinématographique

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The official submission of Morocco to the Best Foreign Language Film of the 85th Academy Awards 2013.

User Reviews

Visually Captivating

I had the pleasure of watching this film at TIff. I had no idea what it was about when going in, therefore I had no expectations. It was my first film from the director, so I did not know what to expect. Visually, this film was beautiful. A lot of the times, director Faouzi Bensaidi used just images to capture a scene's moment with no dialogue needed. It was powerful, simple, and complete. In fact, most of the scenes between the Malik and his girlfriend had little or no words. The power of emotion was captured simply by looks and glances. This is what made the story so much more powerful and leaves us stunned at the end. The story itself was a well told story about 3 boys who are trying to survive in Morocco. It was very well acted and the film gave us a glimpse of what life in Morocco is really like. It tied in local customs to the story and touched lightly upon religion. What I liked was how they had 3 clear views on religion in this movie, but it was presented in such a way, that you did not feel that this movie was only about that. Very much a film noir with a powerful story, beautiful visuals, amazing editing, this is a film that should be watched.