Sudan’s first Oscar entry, about a boy destined to die young, is warmed by compassion and gorgeous, dreamy imagery
‘You will die at 20.” That’s the death sentence handed down to a newborn baby at the start of this gentle, affecting Sudanese drama, the feature debut of director Amjad Abu Alala (and was Sudan’s first ever Oscar entry). The scene has a kind of intense, dreamy realism. A couple bring their baby son to a Sufi naming ceremony in the desert, and while a sheikh performs the blessing, a dervish in a green jalabiya sways in a trance. The crowd chants numbers, one for every year of the baby’s life. “One … two … three …” At the count of 20, the dervish falls into a faint. The sheikh confirms everyone’s gasps: the baby will die at 20. “God’s command is inevitable.”
The film is a parable about the dangers...
‘You will die at 20.” That’s the death sentence handed down to a newborn baby at the start of this gentle, affecting Sudanese drama, the feature debut of director Amjad Abu Alala (and was Sudan’s first ever Oscar entry). The scene has a kind of intense, dreamy realism. A couple bring their baby son to a Sufi naming ceremony in the desert, and while a sheikh performs the blessing, a dervish in a green jalabiya sways in a trance. The crowd chants numbers, one for every year of the baby’s life. “One … two … three …” At the count of 20, the dervish falls into a faint. The sheikh confirms everyone’s gasps: the baby will die at 20. “God’s command is inevitable.”
The film is a parable about the dangers...
- 11/8/2021
- by Cath Clarke
- The Guardian - Film News
If you are looking to stir emotions and grab some tissues this weekend Our Friend has got you covered.
Based on Matthew Teague’s book The Friend: Love Is Not a Big Enough Word, Gabriela Cowperthwaite directs this heartfelt drama adapted by Brad Ingelsby that follows journalist Matt (Casey Affleck), his wife Nicole (Dakota Johnson) and their two young daughters as their lives are turned upside down when Nicole is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Matt becomes overwhelmed with being a caretaker and a parent so he calls on the couple’s best friend Dane Faucheux (Jason Segel) to help out. As Dane puts his life on hold to stay with his friends, the impact of this life decision changes all of their lives in the most profound way.
Our Friend is based on the true story of the Teague family and went by the title The Friend when it made...
Based on Matthew Teague’s book The Friend: Love Is Not a Big Enough Word, Gabriela Cowperthwaite directs this heartfelt drama adapted by Brad Ingelsby that follows journalist Matt (Casey Affleck), his wife Nicole (Dakota Johnson) and their two young daughters as their lives are turned upside down when Nicole is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Matt becomes overwhelmed with being a caretaker and a parent so he calls on the couple’s best friend Dane Faucheux (Jason Segel) to help out. As Dane puts his life on hold to stay with his friends, the impact of this life decision changes all of their lives in the most profound way.
Our Friend is based on the true story of the Teague family and went by the title The Friend when it made...
- 1/22/2021
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
Set in a remote Sudanese village where religion and prophecy are valuable currencies, You Will Die at Twenty beautifully examines misguided notions of faith. After giving birth to her first baby, Sakina (Islam Mubarak) visits the local Sheikh for a formal blessing. Instead of hearing promising words about the child’s bright future, she receives a dire omen: the boy will die on his 20th birthday.
Shockwaves of gossip spread as the entire village mints this premonition as tragic inevitability. Sensing the coming stress of their cursed family situation, her weak husband decides to leave and work abroad, promising to send money back as if that were appropriate compensation to excuse his betrayal. Almost immediately, Sakina’s sense of loss doubles, pushing her into a state of prolonged mourning for someone who has not yet died. She realizes rather quickly that raising her son alone will mean enduring years of isolation and alienation.
Shockwaves of gossip spread as the entire village mints this premonition as tragic inevitability. Sensing the coming stress of their cursed family situation, her weak husband decides to leave and work abroad, promising to send money back as if that were appropriate compensation to excuse his betrayal. Almost immediately, Sakina’s sense of loss doubles, pushing her into a state of prolonged mourning for someone who has not yet died. She realizes rather quickly that raising her son alone will mean enduring years of isolation and alienation.
- 1/21/2021
- by Glenn Heath Jr.
- The Film Stage
The visual assurance of “You Will Die at Twenty” is the most immediately notable element of Sudanese director Amjad Abu Alala’s accomplished feature debut. Beautifully composed and boasting the kind of sensitivity to light sources and color tonalities usually ascribed to top photographers, the film lovingly depicts the remote east-central region of Sudan as a quasi-magical place of sand, sky and the colors of the Nile. The story, about a young man raised to believe an unfortunate event at his birth has condemned him to die at 20, generally has an equally clear-cut quality, simple in the telling yet matched to the pictorial tenor. Some may find a clash between its fable-like guilelessness and other moments when the outside world’s cynicism breaks in, yet the film remains a touching, nonjudgmental depiction of people circumscribed by superstition. Festival play is assured.
This pocket of Sudan is both life-giving, situated between...
This pocket of Sudan is both life-giving, situated between...
- 9/4/2019
- by Jay Weissberg
- Variety Film + TV
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