Cairo Fest

Ahlaam

 (Iraq-U.K.-Netherlands)

By JAY WEISSBERG

Aseel Adil stars as a bride-to-be who is confined to a run-down Baghdad insane asylum in Mohamed Al-Daradji's 'Ahlaam.'

An Iraq Al-Rafdeen (Iraq)/Humanfilm (U.K., Netherlands) production. Produced by Mohamed Al-Daradji, Atea Al-Daradji.
Directed, written by Mohamed Al-Daradji.
 
Ahlaam - Aseel Adil
Ali - Basher Al-Majidi
Mehdi - Mohamed Hashim
Hasan - Kaheel Khalid
Ahmed - Mortadha Saadi
 

Although any decent film coming out of Iraq at the moment deserves encouragement, young helmer-scripter-d.p. Mohamed Al-Daradji's impressive achievement, "Ahlaam," is worthy of true admiration. Pic was made under all but impossible conditions with its cast and crew subject to kidnappings from both sides, and yet Al-Daradji manages to create an ambitious work that's both harrowing and beautiful. Tale of three patients in a Baghdad mental institution may occasionally overplay its hand, but its powerful images triumph over any niggling concerns. "Ahlaam" is sure to sweep the fest circuit, with arthouse play guaranteed.

Nightmarish conditions plagued the film's production throughout its 55-day shooting schedule in Baghdad. Despite a go-ahead from the coalition command and a protective guard of Iraqi police, Al-Daradji found it necessary to wield an AK47 in one hand and his camera in the other.

Crew was abducted by insurgents, beaten and lined up to be shot, then kidnapped by American forces whose interrogation practices are the stuff of New Yorker articles. Somehow, the majority of the film survived for editing in Europe.

Although Donald Rumsfeld still won't be pleased, pic is as critical of Sadaam's regime and the Ba'athist snipers as it is of the occupation. Opening images of bombs raining down on Baghdad in 2003 cut to quieter times in 1998, when a suppressed but functioning society was nervously trying to wait out the capriciousness of Ba'athist control.

Ali (Basher Al-Majidi) is an optimistic soldier, who is buddies with the more neurotic Hasan (Kaheel Khalid). Hasan wants to go AWOL, but Ali encourages him to stay the course.

After a nighttime American strafing reduces their unit to a bloody pulp, a shell-shocked Ali wanders on the battlefield, Hasan's lifeless body in his arms, until he's picked up by Iraqi soldiers and accused of desertion.

Meanwhile, open-faced, pleasingly plump Ahlaam (Aseel Adil) is studying for a degree in English, and joyfully anticipating her marriage to b.f. Ahmed (Mortadha Saadi). But in the middle of the wedding, Sadaam's police abduct the groom.

Mehdi (Mohamed Hashim), a gentle med student whose father expresses dissident views, is assigned to a run-down insane asylum where Ali and Ahlaam end up. When the American bombs start dropping, Ahlaam wakes up like some twisted version of Dorothy entering Oz, and, still in her wedding dress, walks out of the asylum and into incomprehensible scenes of destruction and looting.

Exhibiting a glimmer of sanity, Ali offers to find some of the asylum's dozens of escaped patients. But between the roving gangs of marauders and the frightened American soldiers, negotiating the ruins of Baghdad proves a difficult task.

One of the many difficulties facing Al-Daradji and his crew must have been locating unaffected, even tranquil spots in the Iraqi capital, and yet early scenes along the Tigris give a sense of calm that's jarringly juxtaposed with the city under siege.

Although the character of Hasan could have more pressing reasons for his unhappiness, and the scenes of Ahlaam wandering through the nightmarish urban landscape perhaps go on a bit too long, Al-Daradji has harrowingly captured the sense of decent people battered from all sides until they reach breaking point.

Al-Majidi turns in a soaring performance without overplaying his character's madness. Although Adil's character feels underwritten, her ingenuous disposition and subsequent trauma create a heart-rending pathos. Both cast and crew worked without pay.

Visuals are top quality even without considering the hardships involved. Al-Daradji has a mature eye, and a superb feel for lighting; noteworthy too is his use of wrenching contrasts. While music could be toned down, sound is pro.

Camera (color), Al-Daradji; editors, Ghassan Abduall, Ian Watson; music, Naseer Shamma; production designer, Hasan Falih; costume designer, Luay Fadhil; sound (Dolby Digital), Sefi Carmel. Reviewed at Cairo Film Festival (competing), Dec. 9, 2005. (Also in Rotterdam Film Festival.) Running time: 110 MIN.

 

With: Talib Al-Furati.