Bled Number One

This movie was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Festival 2006. Kamel is a French-Algerian who is deported back to Algeria straight after being released from prison. Kamel is a lonely soul who suddenly gets caught in the middle of an Algerian society undergoing a fundamental change. His cousin Bouzid was found drunk and beaten to near death by a group of local Islamists who impose their belief on the villagers. Kamel's other cousin Louisa leaves her husband and comes to her parent's house, she wants to sing but her husband refuses to let her, he beats her and kidnaps their son. Kamel and Louisa connect in a strange way but their relationship never takes off. Kamel joins a small militia determined to put the violent Islamists in their place while Louisa embarks on a journey to find her son.

The movie tackles some ancient traditions where much is decided by the village's gossip rather than any other logic. It also shows the desire of some people to break free of those rules and the reality of being a women in such a society.

The movie style seems to be between a documentary and a film and never goes deep enough into the analysis of those restrictive traditions nor does it explain those events through dialogue. Most of what you learn is through the silence of the characters and by observing their gestures.

I think it is was not deep enough, it just touches the surfaces of the Algerian society, too much time spent on certain scenes where only few minutes would have been enough to understand the situation.