Ian
(Flash Review)During WWI, a British officer requests the help of locals to show him the way through the dessert mountains to a secret water well. This is the foundation story on which the main story grows upon. And that is of a little boy who tags along with his older brother, another local and the British officer. Along the journey he grows and matures amongst several tense situations. With sparse dialog, much of the story is told visually with the help of amazing scenery and believable acting. The viewer is fully engaged as you had no idea what'll happen next as the story unfolds as the journey goes. Very nice piece of cinema especially from an unexpected country.
Lee Eisenberg
Everything that's happened in the Middle East in the past twenty years makes Naji Abu Nowar's "Theeb" (Arabic for wolf, pronounced ðiːb) all the more important. On the one hand, "Theeb" - Jordan's first movie to receive an Academy Award nomination - is one of the many movies about world events as seen through the eyes of a child. But these are events with which most people in the west are probably not familiar.The setting is Hejaz, right after the Great Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire during World War I. The title character is a recently orphaned Bedouin boy. His brother gets given the assignment of leading a British officer to a Roman well near the Ottoman railway. Theeb follows and witnesses things that will impact him for the rest of his life.The casting of nonprofessional actors gives the movie additional realism. These could be literally any ordinary people in the Arab world, not realizing that their alliance with the British and French would result not only in further colonialism, but a partitioning of the region that would eventually lead to the current bloodshed. Over the course of the movie, Theeb gets forced to mature, and at the end, he does something that no one would expect a child to do (but he has no other choice, does he?). This world of marauding tribes and treacherous dealings is a dangerous one to inhabit, but is the one that will influence Theeb.Outstanding movie. I recommend it.
MartinHafer
Naji Abu Nowar directed and co-wrote this Oscar-nominated film...the first from Jordan. It's set during World War One and covers some of the same material you'd find in the giant Dave Lean epic, "Lawrence of Arabia"...however it covers it in about the most different manner as you could imagine.The film is set among the desert-living Bedouins living within the Ottoman Empire. During the war, many of the Bedouins tired of rule under the Turkish Ottomans and sided with the Brits. And so, when a British soldier and his guide come upon a Bedouin camp in the night, these natives agree to escort the men to their destination. However, the next day when Hussein leaves to escort the pair, his much younger brother, Theeb (about age 8) soon begins following them. He wants to be a man just like Hussein. Unfortunately, soon the expedition goes awry when bandits attack--leaving Theeb the lone survivor. He's stuck in the middle of the desert and has no way to get back home. However, when one of the bandits, who is severely injured, comes upon Theeb, they work out a short truce. He needs help and Theeb cannot possibly survive along in such an inhospitable place.This is clearly a coming of age tale and it's an extremely well made but also very simple story. The acting and pacing are just fine and it's so very different from a sweeping action picture. Instead, it's a nice look into a different time and different culture. Not a great film but I certainly did enjoy it and would like to see more films from Naji Abu Nowar.
Steve B
This is a good film. The story of Theeb will tug at your heartstrings for this little boy and his hardships. I think the reality of it is great and honestly much of the time I forgot this took place 100 years ago. It is a story of coming of age, revenge, life, and the harshness of that place. I am inspired by the little boy. He is able to survive and persist. He doesn't give up. The harshness of it all seems too much to us today, but it reminds me of the sheltered nature of our world in the US. I have been to the middle east. I cannot imagine the harshness of those times knowing my more modern experiences. This seems predictable but there are so many plot turns that surprise you!
AD
