Sur la planche

Tense film work, lyrical yet authentic and gritty script, great pace and strong acting. The film follows two friends who have left their village to find work and freedom in Tangier. But life is very tough and their only work is in a detestable schrimp processing factory. In search of some fun, they meet some girls who are playing at the fridges of the underworld. There's a plan our main characters could join. Perhaps, it would finally allow them to leave the factory. But who can they trust.

The 'Interesting film but...' reviewer clearly hasn't ever watched social-realist cinema and/or doesn't want to be made to think. Fine. But ignore. This is an eye-opening film on aspects of life, especially for women, rarely given consideration. Not just worthy of respect for this, it is an very, very, well made film. It builds tension and suspense like a thriller, even though we know the outcome from the start.

There narrative musings of one main character, Badia, is effective, lyrical and gritty. Close-ups, tight angles, hand-held shots are all used effectively and carefully.

All the actors are excellent. Emotionally complex, fun and savy, their lives beyond the film are beautifully evoked too.

If you enjoy social-realism (think the Dardenne brothers or Ken Loach), you'll absolutely love this.

I saw this film as part of the Rotterdam Film Festival 2012. According to the director during the final Q&A, half of the viewers love this film and the others hate it. I belong to the second category, mainly because of being left in the dark about so many essential things. For example, what was the reason that our main character said her mate to not mingle with the other factory workers. Was it religion, race, immigrants versus natives, or just "company policy" to keep their nightly activities secret?? Also, we had to read between the lines what those nightly activities were exactly. I could have expected some more effort by the film makers to make those things clear (that is what film makers do for a living).

I'm unsure whether the film intentionally wants to make a statement about self sufficient women, who can pull their weight, not needing men to survive in the real world. In this film we see men only appear in side roles, like a factory supervisor, or as targets for being robbed. All actors were non-professionals, according to the director. That positively surprised me a lot, due to quality performances we witnessed.

The synopsis informed us that the story is about our main character wanting to move their nightly business to a higher, more profitable level. That was essential information, and could not be derived from the film itself. Again, a needless attempt to keep important things from us viewers.

I scored a 2 (out of 5) for the audience award when leaving the theater. The reason that I did not score a 1 was the acting, that seemed very natural and very able to compete with professional actors. The reason for the low overall score was a feeling of contempt for the audience that I got, leaving so many things for us to outguess. The story could have got much more flesh when paying more attention for people seeing the film unprepared.