LE JEUNE AHMED / YOUNG AHMED
Luc DARDENNE, Jean-Pierre DARDENNE — BELGIUM, FRANCE — 84 minutes
IN A NUTSHELL
Ahmed (Idir Ben Addi) is a 13-year-old Muslim boy in a small Belgian town, who is being raise by a struggling single mother. Lacking a father figure, Ahmed has become radicalised by a local extremist imam (Othmane Moumen). He is inspired to attempt a violent assault on his caring teacher Inès (Myriem Akheddiou), which lands him in youth custody. Ahmed is subjected to where therapeutic treatments, but will it lead him to become reformed? (words by Bianca Garner)
CRITICAL RESPONSE
“Don’t be fooled by the political biases of some, this is top-notch work from the Dardennes, filled with their usual bired’s-eye-view camerawork, solid acting from nonprofessionals and a searing screenplay which builds up the tension with every scene. The Dardennes are the most influential European filmmakers of the last 20 years, their social-realist handheld camera style has become a sort of cliche for the Euro arthouse world, but why complain that the developers of a certain style of filmmaking cannot continue making such films?” — Jordan Ruimy, World of Reel
“Their issue-based stories play out in the lives of characters grappling with the stacked deck dealt to Europe’s underclass. Young Ahmed tackles a daring subject in an ethically dangerous way. The Dardennes create a cycle of obsessiveness that generates a certain amount of sympathy for the young man. He is yet another of their lost boys, pathetically immature, confused more than he knows, and grimly starry-eyed with the dream of attaching to something bigger than himself in the name of a skewed concept of God.” — Barbara Scharres, RogerEbert.com
“Will this tremor of love extinguish his need for righteous violence, or do something else entirely? Ahmed’s prison life is in fact intriguingly unreadable: he may be fooling others, but perhaps the Dardennes’ film is showing us how, in a muddled way, he is facing up to the fact that he has been fooling himself. Yet much of the subtlety and plausible dramatic interest of Young Ahmed is abandoned with a hectic and unsubtly dramatic “chase” sequence, which the directors have created in the interests of a big finish, but this sequence and the final emotional gesture seem rushed and almost perfunctory.” — Peter Bradhsaw, The Guardian
PRIZE PROSPECTS
The Dardennes were spectators in their last two ventures to the Croisette, with The Unknown Girl just not living up to their impressive body of work last time around, and incredibly coming away empty-handed with the magnificent Two Days, One Night – including no Best Actress prize for the much fancied, and outstanding, Marion Cotillard. Luc and Jean-Pierre have been spoiled at Cannes in prior years, though. Perhaps more than any other filmmakers in the history of the festival. Two Palme d’Or wins, for Rosetta and The Child, a Grand Prize for The Kid with a Bike, a Screenplay win for The Silence of Lorna, as well as various acting prizes.
With unrivaled success comes great expectations at the festival. The Belgian siblings return with Young Ahmed, and a whole host of touchy social issues. They have been here many times before, but the world is oh-so sensitive now, it will be interesting to see how this year’s jury measure it up. An acting prize for the film’s young lead, Idir Ben Addi? Or perhaps even a Jury Prize or Director win to add to those empty spaces on a crowded awards shelf. I love these filmmakers, but am yet to be convinced this can compete. Might be over to you humanitarians at the Ecumenical Jury. (words by Robin Write)
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