Mimosas (2016)

A dying Sheikh travels across the Moroccan Atlas in a caravan escorted by two rogues.

Director:

Oliver Laxe

Writers:

Santiago Fillol, Oliver Laxe

Stars:

Ahmed Hammoud, Shakib Ben Omar, Said Aagli

14 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview:
Ahmed Hammoud	...	Ahmed
Shakib Ben Omar	...	Shakib
Said Aagli	...	Saïd
Ikram Anzouli	...	Ikram
Ahmed El Othemani	...	Mohammed
Hamid Fardjad	...	Sheikh
Margarita Albores	...	Noor
Abdelatif Hwidar	...	Le guide
Ilham Oujri	...	Meriam
Moe Mohamed Oummad	...	Le Caravanier barbu
Hassan Ben Badida	...	Consul
Mohammed Ikrizzi	...	Strange Man

Storyline

A caravan escorts an elderly and dying Sheikh through the Moroccan Atlas. His last wish is to be buried with his close ones. But death does not wait. The caravaners, fearful of the mountain, refuse to continue transporting the corpse. Saïd and Ahmed, two rogues traveling with the caravan, say they know the way and promise to take the corpse to its destiny. In another world, Shakib is chosen to travel to the mountains with a mission: to help the improvised caravaners.

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Plot Keywords:

caravan | sheikh | death | torrent | snow | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie was named after the café that it was written in.

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Soundtracks

Sinai
Written by Al Cisneros
Performed by Om
Courtesy of Drag City Records

User Reviews

One and a half hours of sulking faces set against mountain landscapes.

Morocco has - of late - been a major player in recent Arab cinema. Given the number of great films it has produced in recent years, I was expecting a great movie. I was sorely disappointed.

The movie revolves around a caravan wandering into the Atlas mountains, its' main aim to help a dying elderly sheikh to pass away and be buried in his native village. Death, however, has other plans, claiming the sheikh around twenty minutes into the film. At this point, the majority of the caravan backs out and leaves. The rest of the film follows the remaining members who uphold their end of the deal and persevere through the mountains with the sheikh's corpse.

The only plus in the movie is its' camera work, the focus being on the breathtaking majestic natural landscapes, often with a sulking face in the foreground. However, if I had wanted to see sulking faces against gorgeous backgrounds, I would probably visit a photo exhibition.

The film offers no shortage of flaws, including a deafening absence of music (amplifying the boredom ten-fold), wooden acting and occasional bleating by a rather lack-lustre cast (with the exception of Shakib), and a limited dialogue, with painfully long pauses in between each character's lines. Moreover, the entire plot, which could have easily been made into a 40 minute episode, was dragged out for FAR TOO LONG. Let's just say that death claimed the cinema audience's attention way before it claimed the sheikh's soul. I was later shocked that the film was one hour and thirty six minutes; it felt more like an eternity of boredom.

From the get-go, it was obvious that this film was aimed at international film festivals (I saw this film in one of those festivals). I could even picture artsy European hipsters saying 'Oh my God, this is so ethnic!'. Despite this, the film makes numerous religious allusions that - if not viewed by an Arabic/Muslim audience - will leave international audiences in the dark. A rather exclusive move that will probably not bode well in a non Middle- Eastern context.

Overall, this film is a perfect example of the stereotypical 'pretentious art film' that you will probably watch just once (hopefully never) unless you a) have an incurable case of insomnia or b) intend to spoil a perfectly good movie night.

I second the reviewer above in demanding my time back.

Details

Official Sites:

Coproducer website Film TECHNICAL SHEET

Country:

Spain Morocco France Romania Qatar

Language:

Arabic

Release Date:

22 May 2016 (Morocco)

Also Known As:

Mimosas

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$104,243

Company Credits

Production Co:

Zeitun Films, La Prod, Rouge International

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1