Sunday, June 22, 2014

Wadjda 2012


Wadjda


     Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia is home for Wadjda, a ten-year-old girl.  Despite the conservative world she lives in, she is fun loving, resourceful about earning money and continually pushing boundaries.  Wadjda saw a beautiful green bicycle being delivered to a local store.  She wants that bicycle even though girls are not supposed to ride in their town.  She wants to beat a local boy in a bicycle race.  Her school is very strict and she is caught in her schemes to earn money.  There will be a $1000 cash prize at school for a Koran recitation competition.  Wadjda is determined to win the money to buy the bicycle.
     This is very good and interesting, it shows the everyday culture of living in Saudi Arabia, especially for women and girls.  They are allowed to be themselves only in their own homes.  In public, they must be completely covered in black except for their eyes.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

98 min, Drama directed by Haifaa Al-Mansour with Waad Mohammed, Reem Abdullah, Abdullrahman Al Gohani, Ahd, Sultan Al Assaf, Alanoud Sajini, Rafa Al Sanea, Dana Abdullilah, Rehab Ahmed, Nouf Saad.

Note:  Imdb 7.7 out of 10, 99% critic 89% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Metrocritic 81 out of 100 and user score of 7.2 with 20 ratings.
Special Note:  This is the first feature film shot entirely in Saudi Arabia.   Also the first feature film made by a female Saudi Filmmaker.  Cinemas are banned and women cannot drive or vote.  Haifaa Al-Mansour could not mix with the men in her crew and she had to communicate with them from the back of a van by walkie-talkie.






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