User Reviews

Chaibia Talan (Arabic, الشعيبية طلال) La Paysanne, was born in a small village in 1929, never went to school, was married at 24 and widowed at fifteen. She raised her only son, Houssine, to become an artist but one day on a sudden impulse began painting herself with his materials. Her naive childlike pictures were recognized by visiting gallery owners who had come to arrange an exposition of Houssine's painting as startling expressions of her own tremendous unschooled native talent. She was quickly adopted by the Cobra modern art movement in Paris and her own artistic renown soon eclipsed that of her son. Houssine was at first exasperated and alienated by his mother's galling artistic success, but finally recognized her superior talent and became her staunchest supporter and agent as well. In ensuing scenes we see illiterate Chaïbia, always in peasant dress, at vernissages of her prolific works in Paris and Rome still wowed by all the foreign acclaim. She is taken more seriously abroad than at home. In the extended portions of the film spoken in Moroccan Dialect French titles are supplied. One small sequence is in German when her works are acquired by a German aristocrat from the Goethe Institut. Even when traveling she constantly expresses her pining for Morocco. Through overseas sales of her works she becomes wealthy and moves into a Moroccan mansion, but she never forgets her peasant roots and never learns to read or write ~~ Or speak French as does her son, fluently. When the frenchified Casablanca bourgeois make fun of her at a gallery opening she responds with outrage calling them cultural sellouts. When she dies in Casablanca at age 75 she has become a national icon and international symbol of Moroccan culture.

As for the film itself, it turned out, unfortunately, to be a heavy handed hagiography laden more with obvious telegraphic messages regarding Moroccan cultural finesse and purity of soul than with convincing dramatization or characters. It is more like a high school history lesson than the gripping biopic it should have been. In the film itself only veteran Moroccan actress Saadia Azgoune (active on screen since 1995) rises above the pedestrian direction of Yousseff Britel and the overly messagey screenplay to deliver a touching portrait of the title personality. For the role Saadia had to gain fifteen kilos to "get into the skin of Chaïbia, a stout peasant woman. (One thinks of De Niro's dedication to the role of Jake Lamotta in "Raging Bull") -- which speaks for her own personal admiration for the person she would portray. The most important second role, that of her son Houssine, is taken by handsome leading man Mourad Zaoui who was also the leading flag waver in Britel's second feature, "The Green March" (screened at the recent Marrakesh film festival) and the costar of last year's brilliant festival comedy, "A Spicy Bet" opposite Asmaa Khamlichi. Maroud looks good as usual and tries hard in this one, but his role is flimsily written and stiffly directed. Other top Moroccan actors are steered through tritely conceived representations of the historical figures in question. The Moroccan audience I watched this was did not seem very moved by the film and a photographer I spoke with afterwards who had known Chaibia personally said it was, as far as filmic qualities are concerned, a major disappointment in every respect except for Saadia's performance. While this sincerely intended biopic is far more a didactic document than a convincing dramatic interpretation I would still recommend it to any western viewers interested in Morocco itself and the interface of this fascinating North African Islamic kingdom with its European neighbors. Not to mention that the figure of Primitive artist Chaïbia herself will be a discovery for students of twentieth century European Art History. At one key point in the film when Euro critics refer to her art as "naïf" Chaïbia is told that this is meant as a compliment, not as a criticism, and that's what I would call Britel's film -- Naive -- not in the positive sense, however. ALex, Hotel Al Walid, Dar al-BaiDa, Voyageurs