Un divan à Tunis

Golshifteh Farahani, as wonderful as always. I would say it's a feel good movie which is commenting on some of the issues faced in the modern day society.

Director took the artistic freedom in making it. It's good to watch movie.

And spoiler alert, there's guest entry of Sigmund Freud!!

This is what every and each single person in a third-world country has experienced. What happens in the offices, how the streets look, how the police treats you, how people think of a newcomer, and ... This is how these countries feel and the movie is a portrait drawn by a great artist.

If you want your main character to go into some dream/alternative sequence, you need to set it up properly. The story was going well until out of nowhere you are stuck in a car with an imaginary character for no rhyme or reason. That killed it for me. That whole scene needs to be edited out.

Overall great acting, funny spoofish characters.

I found this rather a french movie than a tunisian movie. A lot of the dialogues are in french, the main character's french (although of Tunisian background) which leads to some disappointment if you're looking for a real tunisian movie. That being said, the main actress is really credible and plays very well her role. I also appreciated many comic situations especially at the beginning of the movie which makes it an overall pleasant movie, not too boring or long like many other indy french or tunisian movies. We can regret also a bit too much of cliches on both parisian (the rudeness of the psychanalyst) and tunisian people but that is done without any bad intention which makes those OK.

Arab Blues (A Couch in Tunis) is an instantly likeable film. Its opening shot - about an old man's description of who Sigmund Freud might be from his looks - is charming and so is the story that succeeds it of a young woman (Golshifteh Farahani) coming back to her homeland, Tunisia, from Paris to start a psychoanalysis practice. She knows she will be looked down for it, a testament that she immediately gets from her uncle. But she is independent, courageous, and gritty, and so the film begins. I absolutely loved all the characters and their performances here, especially Farahani, Feryel Chammari, and Aïsha Ben Miled. Each actor is better than the other and I had a sweet time looking at them, delivering beautiful dialogues and acting like it's real life. The social critique is pregnant here but Arab Blues projects itself as a lively comedy about a woman's struggle in modern-day Tunis, a state still marred by backward beliefs and customs, something that is common everywhere. With a supporting soundtrack, adequate humour, and the ability to keep you engaged, Arab Blues is easily one of the most pleasant comedies you will see this year. Glad I sat down and considered EUFF. Grade A-.

(Watched at the 2020 European Union Film Festival of India (EUFF).)