Dans la vie

Inbred prejudices meet unsuspected sympathies in Moroccan-born pied noir director Faucon's resonant, concentrated film. Selima (Sabrina Ben Abdallah) is an independent young nurse of Moroccan Arab origin in the south of France who gets a job doing care for a Moroccan-born Jewish woman, Esther (Ariane Jacquot), who's newly wheelchair-bound. Esther's complaints and abuse lead her housekeeper to quit, and Selima brings in her devoutly Muslim mom Halima (Zohra Mouffok) to clean and do kosher cooking. Problems ensue, but the "two ladies," both of considerable dignity, elegance and girth, find their commonality of generation, religiosity, and national origin overrides politics and prejudice. Halima and Esther hit it off and have many a giggle together. There's no doubt an element of wishful thinking in this story, which is simple in its telling but complex in its overtones; but this is trumped by the sheer authenticity of the people and the settings.

While the 'Variety' reviewer likens this to an "after-school special," major French publications like 'Les Inrockuptibles,' 'Cahiers du Cinema,' and 'L'Humanité' gave it a very high rating. Why this disparity? Perhaps because Americans don't see the need to acknowledge "little" things like Israel's devastating bombing assault on Lebanon two years ago (a event pointedly noted here), and aren't committed to living with a large Muslim population?

Push comes to shove when Esther's doctor son, who usually looks after her, must leave town for a month for training and she agrees to spend the time in Halima's house. At first she kvetches, but before long she and Halima are having more fun together than ever. But mean gossipers in the neighborhood say Halima's earnings from the Jewish lady are tainted money and her plan to use them to make the Haj is "haraam," unlawful. She asks the imam after a mosque service (and this is a rare close-up of Muslim worship) and he gives the correct reply: the Koran says muslims and Jews are both "ahl ul-kitaab," People of the Book, they have had lawful dealings with each other since the Prophet's time, and if her employer has never objected to her religion or spoken ill of it, "you have been misled." There is nothing wrong in working for her, her money is "halaal," licit, for the pilgrimage. "Go in peace."

When Esther's son comes back early, she refuses to go home and insists on staying to see off Halima on her departure for Mecca. Again, authenticity prevails as the celebration of the Haj is shown.

Obviously Faucon, a Moroccan-born non-Arab like the character of Esther, knows whereof he speaks when it comes to Maghreban mulitculturalism, an issue pretty well known to French liberal intellectuals but remote from most Americans' ken. The freshness, vividness, and excellent production values make this a winner. We need more stuff like this. Serge Kaganski of 'Les Inrockuptibles' wrote: "A film that's simple and complex, ambitious and modest; that avoids no zone of conflict but explores them with calm, tact, and courage. From its paradoxes comes its beauty." Two Ladies, whose French title is 'Dans la vie' (In the Life) opened in Paris March 12, 2008, and was shown as part of the San Francisco International Film Festival, 2008.

Dans La Vie is one of the French comedy selected under the screening of Singapore French Film Festival 2009. The 73 minutes comedy directed by Philippe Faucon is short, simple yet interesting. Compared to other commercial French comedies, Dans La Vie tackles race and religion, and using it as a main selling point of the film.

Dans La Vie surrounds three characters: Esther (Ariane Jacquot), Selima (Sabrin Ben Abdalla) and Halima (Zohra Mouffok). Esther is a middle-aged Jewish handicapped woman, who was nursed by Selima, a Arabic nurse. When Esther's eccentric behavior drives her former caretaker away, Selima introduces her mother, Halima,a Muslim, to work as the caretaker. When Esther's only son is committed to work that forces Esther to stay with Halima under one roof, conflict arises that bonds both Esther and Halima together.

Dans La Vie tackles the conflicts between the Jews and Muslims without hurting one another's race and religion. It is a simple story that sends a message to the audience that there are differences in every race and religion, but with tolerance and acceptance, it creates harmony. And it is true that the message is spread to the audience.

With the cast mainly consist of females, it seems to be more of a weekday matinée soap comedy on the TV. With only 73 minutes, there are many more issues that has yet to be covered, such as how the bonds between Esther and Halima were formed, why Halima insisted in going to Mecca for pilgrim without the assistant of her children and more. As a audience, one might feel short charged for paying a full price ticket to Dans La Vie. It is good that Dans La Vie gets a release in theater, but it seems to be more suitable for DVD release.

Give it a try if you are looking for a comedy with a new angle and you do not have much time to spare.