Fatem is a middle aged woman living in a tiny village on the Moroccan countryside with her infant daughter. Her husband, as most able bodied people in the village, men and women, have departed for the big cities in search of work. There is no school, police presence or medical facilities. Fatem ekes out a meager living as caretaker of an unfrequented synagogue and its adjacent Jewish cemetery. Her day is consumed with heavy household chores such as gathering firewood or bringing water from a nearby stream. The tiny local community has a meeting place in the house of the local imam, with a room devoted to Moslem services. The imam performs other services such as reading letters addressed to his congregation, most of which are unlettered.
One day the Imam's glasses are broken. Fatem, who is eternally waiting for s letter from her absent husband offers to travel to Casablanca to have them repaired. Once in the great city she runs into a political demonstration and is wrongly identified by the police as a participant. She also attracts the attention of TV journalists that refer her to the social services.
What is the point of this movie? Perhaps the fact that people genuinely wanting to help perceive things as they want rather than trying to understand the needs or emotions of others. Fatim is a suspect to the police, a victim of police abuse for the journalists, a victim of an unjust social system for the social workers but the reality of her life is never addressed. This is one of these exceptional works that show you real life as stark as grim as it may be. There is no preaching; the conclusions are yours to make. You may be thinking of this movie long after you watch it.
