Bab'Aziz

This is more than a film. It is a cinematic teaching tale. It can function on the level of that sort of Sufi contemplation device in which direct experience--through contemplation of a parable--is more important than preaching and didacticism. It is designed with careful artistry so that it is comprehended by the faculty of consciousness mystics call "the heart" rather then by the intellect. The Sufi (and Islamic)traditional saying "Die before you die" has never been so well conveyed. The central figures of Baba and Ishtar embodied by the actors are compelling to the point of beauty, with enough mystery and paradox that you will never be able to put your finger on precisely why, and in what way, you have been moved. But many, many people will be: what ever faith they practice, and even if they do not have one. This film will leave you with the powerful sense that the realm of spirit is the greater reality. -- Joe Martin

"Bab'Aziz: The Prince Who Contemplated His Soul" is a magical retelling of a Sufi mysticism; the mystical side of Islam, the time-honored concept of oneness with God, the peace and harmony with the universe. Bab'Aziz (Parviz Shahinkhou)is a very old blind dervish who hit the desert for a dervish reunion that is held once in every thirty years. A sort of a Sufi congregation where dancing ,singing, reciting poetry are all performed in a dhikr-like meditation and ecstasy to realize a sense of oneness with God, to reach the Creator. Ostensibly, his only accompanier is his high-spirited but patient granddaughter Ishtar(Maryam Hamid) who enjoys the mystic tales of the dervishes which somehow intersect with the tales of those who are on the desert for the same reunion.Bab'Aziz tells the story of a titular prince who goes missing one day.The fastidious prince who enjoys himself with the worldly-deeds follow a little gazelle that happens to be near his palatial tent. After he is gone missing, his loyal subjects look for him only to find him to be enraptured by apparently his own reflection in the pool but his loyal server knows that there is more to it than meets the eye. En route to the congregation they meet others whose stories are mystically interwoven with the tale of the old dervish. A young man who is on the desert to avenge a brother who was killed by a red-haired dervish(Hossein Panahi)whose only concern is to 'sweep with his soul, before his beloved's door', Osman(Mohamed Graïaa) who years for the beautiful Zahra who mystically meets in a palatial well, Zaid(Nessim Khaloul)who looks for the enchanting woman (Golshifteh Farahani) who is bewitched by his poems at a poetry contest but fled away from him to find her long-lost dervish father...

Dedicated to the father of the director Nacer Khemir, the movie is a subtle on-portrayal of Muslims in a hostile,gradually increasing Islamophobic world. In an interview in Al-Ahram Weekly,Nacer Khemir says "Suppose you were walking with your father on the street and he fell and got mud on his face. What do you do then? You help him up and wipe the mud off his face." The mud--the wrongly attained image of Islam due to those guys who take wows of violence with their guns is trying to be clarified by a man who could say "When I became an orphan I understood that I was at the center of a whirlpool, that I would never know comfort. I felt it was necessary to start expressing that..."

Teemed with vivid desert imagery, thought-provoking and enchanting remarks by self-less dervishes,Bab'Aziz is definitely not a movie for a layman. If you don't like a journey which will take you literally nowhere but mystically everywhere the movie won't be making much sense for you. If you have never read anything about sufi poets like Rumi let alone the possibility that you may never heard of him, then this movie won't be an easy one for you to relate to, because Sufism,in a way, is ripped away from rationality. I mean what would you say to a granddaughter who says "we've lost the way" on the desert. Bab'aziz says "He who has faith will never get lost, my little angel.He who is at peace won't lose his way." That's I mean about the "rationality" in Sufism.So if you really want to watch this movie get ready for the mystical journey that will become obscure if you lose your faith,concentration and attention!

I saw this dazzling work of art at the Palm Springs film festival January 10 and it got my vote for best film of the week. It was as beautiful as it was touching and funny. Maryam Hamid gave a flawless performance as the charming and sweet Ishtar. Parviz Shaminkhou was superb as her determined and caring dervish grandfather. Blind but not sightless, he finds his way across the constantly changing terrain guided only by his heart, in search of that place he is meant to be. The hypnotizing music of Armand Amar was the perfect accompaniment to the stunning Tunisian landscape where each scene was more magnificent than the next; a dream within a dream. Do not miss this film.

For anyone who is unaware of the culture,the Dervish is an integral part of the Sufi branch of Islam (the ones who embrace mysticism). This is a loving meditation on a grandfather & granddaughter who embark on a spiritual odyssey to a gathering of Dervishes that only takes place every 30 years. Along the way,the pair encounters various persons in the desert that tell their stories (which,like Sufi stories,interweave within one another). This is a lovingly written, directed,filmed (mostly in the barren desert areas of Iran,giving the film a dreamy & surreal look at times)allegory of spirituality. This is a film that deserves to be taken at it's own terms (the pacing is s-l-o-w, but don't let that deter you). The music score is fantastic,with lots of traditional Sufi music (it might help to listen to a bit of it---try anything by the late,great Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Kahn for some background). By all means,get yourself attuned & enjoy this rare bit of entertainment & enlightenment.

As others have said, this movie can qualify as a "best movie of my life". The person that commented about the movie not focusing exclusively on the pure/ascetic aspects of Sufi has a valid point, but it is on purpose that this is the case.

I strongly recommend watching the other two movies of the "dessert trilogy" where the very same path towards illumination, is seen from the outside (first movie), then from the point of view of the one drawn into joining in (second movie) and with Bab'aziz comes the end of the cycle.

Behind the movie and the trilogy itself, the Director (Nacer Khemir) is of course the conduit that guides to the viewers the source of the light. To dedicate all your artistic career to a single trilogy over so many years, puts Mr. Khemir in the line of the Muslim craftsmen that adorned so beautifully the buildings we see throughout the movies... He succeeded in turning a medium (cinematography) mostly used by anti-traditional messages in a veritable page of a scripture. The movie is able to lead people to "search more" and provides them a valid direction as well.

Some of Nacer's interviews one can find on the net are worth watching too...