Bab El-Oued City

Frustrated by the confines of Muslim society, and angered by the religious propaganda blaring across the casbah, Boualem (Abdou) rashly steals a loudspeaker rigged up by the militants. Once they discover the culprits, the fundamentalists are determined to make an example of him. A fascinating portrait of life in contemporary Algeria - the smuggling, hypocrisy and widespread intimidation - but one that doesn't really deliver in the story department; it's cryptic to the point of impenetrability, but, paradoxically, dully predictable.