The Moroccan Symphony (2006) [N/A]
Featuring:
Younes Megri, Abdellah Lamrani, Rafik Boubker
Written by:
Kamal Kamal
Directed by:
Kamal Kamal
Release Date:
February 1, 2006
Original Title:
السمفونية المغربية
Alternate Titles:
La symphonie marocaine
Genres:
Drama | Music
Production Companies:
GFCP Production
Soread-2M
VS Production
Production Countries:
Morocco
Ratings / Certifications:
N/A
Runtime: 105
Hamid is a former volunteer who participated in the 1982 Lebanon War and returns from there with disappointment. He becomes homeless in the city of Casablanca. He resorts to theft and addiction to combat his homelessness and physical disability. His only dream in life is to bring his symphony into existence, so he asks the help from his homeless friends for that.
"La Symphonie Marocaine" is the story of a group of down-on-their-luck Moroccan musicians living in a trainyard who get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to audition for a symphony in England. Predictably, the disparate group, including a Lebanese war veteran, a beautiful prostitute, a mute and a stuck-up woman waiting to emigrate to Canada band together to make beautiful music. 90% of the film is in Arabic, and 10% in French (much like life in Morocco).According to the synopsis, director Kamal Kamal was a musician before becoming a filmmaker and it shows. The film is at its best when the group is practicing together, and a scene in the middle of the film features the group singing a beautiful haunting melody- half classical, half traditional- amidst several rings of fire, is truly memorable.However, these moments are few and far between. Sadly, although everyone does their best, the characters and the melodrama are not particularly interesting and the story mostly forgettable. There are a few interesting twists, but not enough to sustain the film. Director Kamal obviously has some talent as an editor and a composer, and I don't want to diss a film from a developing country, but this film is a minor effort.
