The Imperialists Are Still Alive!

This is a pseudo intellectual mess of that is way too pleased with its own perceived cleverness. Elodie Bouchez, despite her obvious physical beauty, is annoying as a pouty supposedly daring artist. The story is disjointed not because it is trying to make a stylistic point but because of the poor construct of the screenplay and the message it is trying to make is lost in all the pointless dialog and the bad acting. Ironically Zeina Durra makes fun of plays and artwork that are exactly like her own work. If you want proof that the imperialists are still alive just read the news and save the 91 minutes needed to watch this rambling film for something more fruitful, like watching paint dry.

Durra's first film is exceptional, in every way. The understated acting and narrative development is skillfully used to explore trans-local issues. She is also taking on something we see most famously in Inarritu's films: the intricate connections between people who seem to be separated by place, culture, space and time, but who are brought into relation of simultaneity nonetheless. But whereas Inarritu (whom I love) is somewhat bombastic about making these connections salient, and sudden, Durra is subtle and understated. The problems of such connections are also brought out: Javier sometimes makes far-fetched claims about his father's political past in order to try and relate to the experience Asya is having of worrying about her brother who is in Beirut during Israeli bombing.

The film also explores class and the politics of distinction in very interesting ways. Putting a Palestinian artist and a Mexican PhD law student--both of clearly upper middle class backgrounds--"on the road" throughout New York is incredibly fruitful. Asya's Mexican cleaning lady is one point where these class issues are worked out. Asya's ambivalence towards the milieu of artists is another.

Thoroughly enjoyable on so many levels, complex, subtle, critical and genuinely funny.

This is not a good movie.

The script and direction are terrible and its supposed use of New York locations was pretty much a waste. It looks like the whole thing was shot within a limited set of blocks in the East Village and rarely ventured elsewhere. They pretty much could have shot this entire film in a warehouse in Toronto, saved themselves a bunch of money and been no worse off for it.

The acting of the male roles was fair, but all the woman's roles were both written and acted terribly, leading me to believe that the director doesn't know how to direct or cast women.

I gave this movie one star at Sundance.

Summary: not good, skip it.

Enough films have been made where the Middle-Eastern characters are portrayed either as sinister maniacs or down right primitives hell bent on disrupting the ways of the West. Forget the fact that they were very insulting- you'd hope most people watching them have enough intelligence to realise this. Worse was how lazy these films were. And indeed are! Which is just one of the reasons why Zeina Durra's film shines so brightly. I saw this film over a year ago at Sundance. Not only was it the strongest thing I saw at the festival, it was one of the most original films to come out of independent cinema in the US for a while. It focuses primarily on characters from the Middle-East but not like the ones we've previously had the misfortune of seeing on our cinema screens. These characters live, party, dream, worry and embarrass themselves just like the rest of us. Durra shows us their interactions with great poise and knowledge. The result being a very funny and intelligent film. The casting in a film such as this is crucial and the director has got it pretty much spot on. An important note- this is Durra's debut feature film and in my humble opinion signals the start of a promising and original career.

I saw this film at the opening night of the Williamsburg Film Festival on Kent Ave at South 2nd street. It is a great portrayal of a life in NYC. I have lived in NYC for 17 yrs and could relate to the characters and scenes, even though I am 1/2 Swedish and 1/2 Jewish. The movie is unbelievably funny... I laughed and laughed. It is not a serious film, but it is not meant to be serious... it is a window into the world of this artist that touches on political issues... as I think for many of us living in the States experience global issues... horrors go on across the world and we still go to parties and benefits. The dichotomy between silly and serious, paranoid and real, superficial and important are acutely captured in a way that is representative of young culture today... At the same time, it is a charming love story. The directing is fantastic - I was really amazed at the complexity of the shots... the Chinatown scenes, the cars, the parties... so many people and elements in so many of the scenes for such a young director. Enjoyable on so many levels - to be seen!!