The Unknown Saint

With a premise as interesting as this, it could have been a better movie. Its tad difficult to believe many elements in the movie and it doesn't feel realistic. The springing of an entire village where there's no water and much "business". People getting gold teeth made in such a place! Homes with gold embroidered cushions and water (in such a desert). The characters do not evoke empathy or much humour though there is certainly scope. Good in parts but doesn't come together as a harmonious film. Watched it at a Film fest and din't live up to the hype it created.

I saw "The Unknown Saint" at the Philadelphia Film Festival and it was one of the bigger surprises for me. I had pretty low expectations for the story but ended up really liking it....though I also am sure it's not for all tastes...mostly because the story is a bit slow. I see it as being deliberately paced....and hopefully you'll feel the same.

The story begins with a crook burying his loot in the Moroccan desert. He's soon caught and sent to prison. Sometime later, he's released...and immediately returns to the desert to retrieve the money. However, he has a serious problem....a shrine to the 'unknown saint' has been built atop the ground where he buried the money!! And, the place is guarded day and night! So how will this dumb crook and his even dumber accomplice get the money? Or, will they?

What made this so enjoyable were all the little supporting characters throughout the story. You cannot help but care about many of them and their lives....and this is a real tribute to the script and deft direction. Well worth seeing and also humorous in a very offbeat way!

Very enjoyable storyline and dialogues Great location (Morrocco desert) Excellent casting Sense of humour is so refreshingly different !

A modern fable about how God works in a mysterious ways, this film is too funny. In a subdued deadpan comedy manner, of course. Aki Kaurismäki and Wes Anderson would be proud.

What could have been a comedy cum thriller is actually reduced to a slow, painful, mini comic storey. It has so many common sense holes in storey that after each mini episode within it one wonders how this was allowed to happen or how it can happen? But the seens with barber shop and ladies coming to doctor with flimsy ailments is more entertaining. But main part of shrine and recovering loot and unexpected ending are very boring. What could have been a great comic thriller is a painful, slow process.