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Le Grand Voyage (2004)
Director: Ismael Ferroukhi
Movie review
From Time Out London
Is St Paul the patron saint of road movies? Despite having a sequence set on the road to Damascus, the character reassessment in Ismaël Ferroukhi’s debut is more drip-drip than thunderbolt, and none the worse for that. Fully naturalised second-generation French Moroccan Reda (Nicolas Cazalé) is obliged to forsake critical exam retakes to drive his father (Mohamed Majd) 6,000 miles to Mecca for the Hajj – a journey during which the two men’s cultural and generational divide is compounded by the familiar gripes of being stuck in a car with a family member.Their semi-estrangement is based on simple enough terms (‘you may know how to read and write, but you know nothing about life,’ the unnamed father snaps) but trite opposition is avoided: each is stubborn yet sympathetic in his frustrations, they just speak different languages – literally. The film’s linguistic shifts are among its subtlest plays on strained communication: the father’s use of Arabic initially sets him apart but as they cross through Europe into Asia – via Serbia, Turkey and Syria to Saudi – the balance tilts and by journey’s end Reda is the one reduced to infantile dependence. Picture-postcard establishing shots aside, there’s little sightseeing along the way (‘you think we’re tourists?’ grunts dad); comparably, the scenes of the Hajj itself, including unprecedented feature footage from within Mecca, is remarkable but uningratiating – neither the ethos nor the minutiae of the pilgrimage are much unpacked. Despite a couple of schematic touches (Reda’s unseen French girlfriend, the over-neat climax), Ferroukhi’s faith in small gestures and silences makes for a touching, plausible trip.Author: BW
Time Out London Issue 1834: October 12-19 2005
Cast & crew
Director: Ismael Ferroukhi
Producer: Humbert Balsan
Cast: Nicolas Cazalé, Mohammed Majd, Jacky Nercessian, Kamel Belghazi, Ghina Ognianova full cast
Genre(s): Drama
Rated: PG
Duration: 108 mins
UK Release: Oct 14 2005
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