Rock the Casbah

From the opening introduction by Omar Sharif, I knew I was going to love this film, it was simply a matter of how deep that love would be.

Well, it's 9/10 deep.

The story is that patriarch Moulay Hassan Bel Amor, (played by Sharif) has passed away and his family and friends are gathering to mourn him, remember him and, as it turns out, occasionally curse him.

Beyond that, I'll give no spoilers here but this family, like all families, has long-buried secrets and pain that it ignores as best it can.

The central role is that of Sofia (Morjana Alaoui), one of the daughters who has not been home in years. She's now a successful Hollywood actress and has her own reasons for estrangement from the wider family. Now, she's back in the family home, accompanied by her young son.

Through the frame of the loss of their father, the remaining three sisters and mother examine both his and their lives. This could be clunky and awkward but it all unfolds elegantly and believably: no lumpy exposition dumps here. Writer/director Laïla Marrakchi balances the interweaving narratives perfectly.

Some of the plots are slyly humorous, some of them tragic but they balance and in that balance they feel real, they connect. It would have been easy to gallop into shouty family revelation drama or overdose on whimsy and farce. Rock The Casbah does neither and though all the cast are fabulous in their portrayals, the lion's share of the credit must go to Marrakchi - her command of the art form of cinema shines in every scene, in every frame.

The cast also mesh without a hiccup, the three central sisters' relationship in particular is detailed and rich, one second they're screaming at each other, the next crying on each other's shoulders. And it all makes emotional sense. But, truly, the entire ensemble are all on 100% here, there's not a single actor who isn't in the same vibe as the rest of them.

I really love this film and I know I'll be thinking of scenes from it years from now. It's funny, sad, and leaves you thinking about more than you think the film explicitly addressed.

This is a nice telenovela script. Moroccan soap compressed for a featured film. And that compression makes the script even better.

Only the acting is execrable. Apart from Omar Sharif whose part shouldn't have been in the final draft.

And to add injury, the cheap ending is making things even worse.

I came across this movie and was taken into this beautiful depiction of life. and death, and love and everything what is to be human. Strong women, funny and real, where we learn that being human is a path of growth and learning..

Rock the Casbah starts out like a comedy. Sofia (Morjana Alaoui) returns home to Morocco for the funeral of her father, a wealthy but controlling entrepreneur who, despite dying, appears as a ghost commenting on the proceedings for much of the film. Sofia left claustrophobic Morocco years ago to be an actress in America where her only roles have been as terrorists and generic villains much to her family's shame.

Her sisters are wealthy and judgmental, but they have their own problems and are married to men they don't love but who their father approved of. Furthering the tension in this family reunion is the fact that Sofia was close to her eldest sister who died years ago and who's death she blames on her father.

There is lots of fun cultural and family commentary but when the secrets are revealed they are actually quite dark and disturbing and the last minute shift in tone is so abrupt it's quite jarring in context with the rest of the film.

The actors are great and Laïla Marrakchi has a keen eye for the lifestyle of the rich in Morocco but ultimately the film doesn't make a great impression.

Brilliant in every aspect! Acting, mood, customes, architecture, so underrated! Must see