Kasbah

Mariano Barroso, who wrote and directed "Kasbah" shows moments of great inspiration in the way he tells his story. He sets the film in Morocco, an exotic destination that has an air of mystery and adventure, as it follows the disappearance of a young Spanish woman who has come to the country for a vacation.

Mario, the man in charge of Spanish-Moroccan enterprise, is getting ready for going back to Spain. At this point, a fax arrives in which he is told the daughter of his boss will be arriving on the ferry from Algeciras. Since this is an unexpected turn of events for him, he is late in getting to meet Laura. On the road, Laura decides to race Mario and he kills a sheep on the road, something that looks like an omen for bad luck.

What follows is a road movie as Laura and her car disappear from a shopping trip to the Kasbah. There is absolutely no trace of the girl, but Ibrahim, a friendly man who knows a lot about the country, tells him whoever took the girl only wants to sell the car by taking it to Mauretania. At the same time, Victor, the father of the girl, who has arrived when told about the disappearance, engages a local Spanish butcher, Rodrigo, to go in pursuit of his daughter.

There is a another young woman, Alix, who had arrived in the same ferry with Laura, who is taking a tour of the country. Mario, who follows Ibrahim advice by going after Laura, meets Alix along the way after a horrible encounter she had experienced with Rodrigo.

"Kasbah" is entertaining, but it's predictable. We know where Mr. Barroso is taking us and how it all will end. Ernesto Alterio is good as Mario. Natalia Verbeke is seen as Alix, and Elena Ballesteros is the lost Laura. Jose Sancho plays the evil Rodrigo.

The film shows some interesting sights of Morocco.

After five years working in the Spanish-Moroccan Society of Magnesium in Morocco, Mario Salas (Ernesto Alterio) receives a fax from his boss Victor Duque (Adolfo Fernández) asking him to welcome his daughter Laura (María Elena Ballesteros) on the eve of the day that he will return to Spain. Mario heads to the ferry where he meets the pothead actresses Alix (Natalia Verbeke) and Lua (Lucia Jiménez) that tell him where the troublemaker Laura is having problems with customs due to her red Jaguar. Laura and Mario have an accident on the road, where he accidentally runs over a sheep of a shepherd. Mario spends the day with her and on the next day, they go to the market in Kasbah for shopping. Out of the blue, Laura vanishes and Mario seeks her out along the day and the night. When he sees the shepherd whose sheep was killed, he believes the man has abducted Laura and he fights with the man and is arrested. On the next morning, Mario is released and together with the emissary from the embassy are Victor Duque and his wife. Victor, who is the father of Mario, believes he has kidnapped Laura to revenge against him and hires the butcher Rodrigo Diez (José Sancho) to track his son. Mario decides to track Laura down through an exotic journey of self- discovery.

"Kasbah" is an interesting road-movie with an exotic journey of self- discovery. The story has an excellent beginning, a good development with sightseeing of the countryside of Morocco but the disappointing conclusion is rushed and lame. The relationship of Mario Salas and his father Victor Duque deserved a better development, and the way Rodrigo Diez ends is quite silly. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Mistério de Kasbah" ("The Mystery of Kasbah")