This reduces the young man to convulsive tears, prompting Halim finally to abandon his reserve and offer comfort. Among the loveliest scenes is Halim washing Mina’s hair for her or Mina asking forgiveness for accusing Youssef of dishonesty and failing to fess up even when she discovered she was wrong. This is a film of overwhelming tenderness - in exchanged glances or tactile moments as fleeting as one hand lightly touching another. But Touzani’s stripped-down screenplay never takes predictable paths, even when it does fulfill expectations. It’s easy to assume where the drama is headed as the feelings among all three characters intensify. He calls on the couple at home and graciously assumes responsibility for the business while gradually becoming a member of their family. However, when he sees that the store has remained closed for an extended period, Youssef is too kind and too emotionally invested to stay away. This creates painful conflict for the taciturn tailor when Youssef reveals his feelings in an intensely moving physical display in the store, and the older man’s rejection of him causes the apprentice to quit.
When Mina initiates sex with him it appears to be an act of desperate need for his affection, typical of a drama steeped in longing.īut beneath the married couple’s subdued, almost stilted conversations, a deep reciprocal love, even mutual gratitude, becomes clear, especially once Mina’s health begins to decline. Touzani deftly uses misdirection to suggest a loveless marriage between sickly Mina, the details of her illness revealed only gradually, and Halim, whose inability to suppress his gay desires steers him regularly to anonymous sex in private rooms at the local hammam. Having taken care of himself since he was 8 years old, he tells Mina that money comes and goes and makes little difference to him. Mina even accuses Youssef of stealing fabric, docking his pay despite him convincing Halim that he’s no thief. But at the same time, she watches the handsome new employee like a hawk, clocking with increasing irritability every doe-eyed gaze he directs at Halim and every lingering glance that Halim returns. Previous apprentices have lost interest and moved on quickly. Mina, a bluntly plainspoken woman of Berber origin, initially encourages Youssef, since her husband has more work than he can comfortably handle and is not inclined to rush. Those words softly resonate with notions of what makes a relationship durable, as well as the encroaching obsolescence of handcrafted tailoring in favor of machine fabrication. “A caftan must be able to survive the one who wears it. Youssef’s responsiveness appears driven as much by the tailor’s dedicated craftsmanship as by the unspoken but clearly mutual physical attraction between the two men. The attention to detail of Virginie Surdej’s camera in these work scenes - the spools of golden thread, the precision needlework, the regal braiding and intricate construction of long rows of Rouleau loop buttonholes - conveys the love that Halim pours into his trade. In particular, Halim’s elaborate work on a splendid blue caftan for the pushy wife of a town official fascinates Youssef. The impatience of customers wanting faster service and the backlog of orders necessitate hiring an apprentice, Youssef (gifted newcomer Ayoub Messioui), a quiet young man eager to learn everything that Halim teaches him about pattern-making, tailoring and embroidery. In one of the oldest medinas in the northwestern Moroccan city of Salé, Halim (Saleh Bakri, The Band’s Visit) and his wife Mina (Lubna Azabal, so memorable in Adam) run a caftan shop where he hand-sews made-to-measure garments according to vanishing traditions he learned from his late father. Screenwriter: Maryam Touzani, in collaboration with Nabil Ayouch
Venue: Cannes Film Festival (Un Certain Regard)Ĭast: Lubna Azabal, Saleh Bakri, Ayoub Messioui