Le jeune Ahmed

In Belgium, the teenager Ahmed (Idir Ben Addi) lives with his family and has classes of French and Arabic languages with his teacher Inès (Myriem Akheddiou). However, he has been brainwashed by his Imam Youssouf (Othmane Moumen) with a wrong interpretation of the Koran, despite the warnings of his mother (Claire Bodson). Ahmed decides to kill Inès but fails and is arrested. While under the care of the State, he works at a farm and meets the young Louise (Victoria Bluck), who has a crush on him. But she is not Muslin, and Ahmed scorns her. The radical Ahmed has an agenda and flees from his social worker.

"Le jeune Ahmed", a.k.a. "Young Ahmed" (2019), is a Franco-Belgian production with a simple story of hatred. The movie shows an impressive demonstration of how teenagers may be manipulated and become fanatic by radicals. This is the case of the lead character Ahmed, who received and adopted a wrong interpretation of the Koran and is destroyed by his belief. My only question is why fanatics stay in the Western civilization, instead of returning to their home countries. This is the same case of fanatic racists that praise their mother land. Why they do not move back? My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Jovem Ahmed" ("The Young Ahmed")

The Dardenne brothers have once again produced a film that is both simple and powerful.

As the title suggests, this is the story of young Ahmed, a pre-teen who becomes totally involved in Islamism under the influence of an imam who recruits people to kill those who don't think like the Islamists. The film is interesting because it shows how the imam goes about indoctrinating him. The film is interesting because it shows how the imam goes about indoctrinating him, which will disturb, interrogate and question those around him: his school teacher, his family.

The great quality of the film is its script and staging: the story is told through the staging and what we see, i.e. Not through dialogues, intertitles or voice-overs, but through the behavior of the characters, particularly the young man. It's an impressive feat of realism and simplicity, giving every second of the film a sense of tension, a seemingly inescapable race to the finish. As the viewer is constantly from the young man's point of view, but not in his head, he discovers and understands what he is doing with a slight delay. And of course, the Dardennes exclude music from the staging: the film contains none. There's no bias to make us understand or dramatize what we're watching. A kind of empirical method.

Simple, powerful cinema. Prix de la Mise en Scène at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. It seems obvious.

YOUNG AHMED

The justifiably renowned Dardenne Brothers won the Cannes Directing prize for YOUNG AHMED, but, it isn't one of their stronger films, despite some interesting thematic elements. Ahmed (Idir Ben Addi) is a teenage Muslim in Belgium who, under the influence of a radical Imam (Othmane Moumen ) becomes increasingly strict in his religious practices putting him at odds with the more open ways of his school and even his own family (neither his mother (Claire Bodson) or sister wear hijabs). When Ahmed puts his radical thoughts into action he is placed in a youth detention/rehabilitation center. It is there that the bulk of the brief 84 minute picture is set, and where Ahmed continues to struggle finding his way between his ultra-conservative and strict principles, and adapting to the modern world. Much of the criticism of the Dardennes has been that it doesn't provide enough answers about Ahmed. Throughout their distinguished careers, the brothers have never been ones to provide easy conclusions, they are most adept at posing questions and challenging the viewer. What keeps YOUNG AHMED from fully succeeding is that in their best work (ROSETTA, L'ENFANT) the directing team finds a way to provide a strong dramatic narrative to pose their queries. Here, Ahmed's tale, while well documented, fails to fully engage. The movie has moments, but, they are fleetingly effective.

I don't really understand why this brilliant film was seen by critics as a minor piece of work by the brilliant two time Palm D'or winning Dardenne brothers. I was hooked throughout. Their last two films, The Unknown Girl and Two days, one night were almost universally seen as amongst their best work. Whilst I enjoyed both of those films, they didn't hit me emotionally like others Dardenne films, such as the kid with a bike or L'enfant. Young Ahmed did. Young Ahmed - superbly played by Olivier Bonnaud - is clearly a complex character caught in the middle between Western norms and his interpretation of Allah. He's certainly been led astray by the most fundamentalist of interpretations of the Quran, but you never quite know if he's playing the game, or is genuinely sorrowful for his actions. And the result is a quietly disquieting portrayal of what, for him, is right and wrong, loyal and disloyal, life and death. And, as is oft the case with the Dardennes, there's no obvious answers. A return to form from my go to European auteurs. 8 and a half out of ten.

The Dardenne brothers linger, during 80 minutes, to a subject as cleaving as delicate: obscurantism and radicalization. Although the atmosphere is neat, the psychology of the characters is not elaborate enough. Thus, the character of Ahmed interpreted by Idir Ben Addi is definitely not credible: he looks like a harmless kid with a baby face. I can not believe such a child might fool adults so easily. As a matter of fact, the film is essentially based on this character who may then be considered as the keystone of a cinematographic structure. This keystone being defective, the structure collapses! Moreover, the rhythm of the film is a bit sluggish, even if this feeling is possibly due to my global lack of interest for the movie. In short: disappointing! 4/5 of 10.