Inch'Allah dimanche

(2001) Inch'Allah Dimanche/ Thank God for Sunday!

(In French and Arab with English subtitles) DRAMA

Written and directed by Yamina Benguigui starring Zouina (Fejria Deliba) a wife with three children whose just moved to France to join her husband as well as her overbearing mother-in-law. Once there, she sees that her life is no different than when she had left as she is continued to be kept inside the household. There are scenes that doesn't seem convincing ,such as throwing a hissy fit to the grouchy neighbors after they punctured a knife into their children's ball after landing onto their prized possession yard. She also start a rapport with friendlier neighbors but with uninteresting results that lead to nowhere. I also think the brief introduction about France accepting refugees family members is nothing but a backdrop to the predictable harsh environments enforced by the father of the household. The movie means well but on an unconvincing terms.

The best movie I have ever seen in my ENTIRE life - and I watch A LOT of movies. The finesse with which the main character is built is just beautiful - she just shines. The movie is not stereotypical at all. The film also doesn't fall into the trap of making the ending happy and conclusive - at the end you're just left with a smile on your face and feeling like Zouina (the main character) is actually somewhere out there living her life. The supporting actors are perfect, from the bus driver to the neighbors to the grocery store clerk. The pace of the movie is that of a lullaby - a still, sad, lullaby. This movie deserves all the praise in the world - I don't think there is any movie out there, even the big Hollywood productions, that could top this film.

I should say right off I have seen other film about Algerians, both there and in Paris. So I'm not unfamiliar with the themes and issues.

I found this often confusing - the protagonist's behavior borders on irrational more than once - and not really evidence of oppression or even racism. Her husband is certainly more violent than we would think acceptable, but not terribly so I would think for the culture at the time and not entirely without provocation. While her errors in dealing with the larger culture are somewhat touching, they're almost like comic relief at times. (In that regard, it occurs to me that this film is also reminiscent of one about a Palestinian immigrant in America.) The mother in law is a bit of a caricature (though very well-played). The exact motivation of the various helpers is uncertain; you would think too that one would know better than to give a certain sort of gift. There's a running theme of a garden contest which never quite comes to the forefront nor gets resolved. The "happy ending" some have mentioned comes largely out of nowhere.

Her over the top joy at learning another Algerian woman lives nearby is almost disturbing in its intensity and the risks she takes given her otherwise hyper-traditional upbringing seem downright eccentric.

Basically, the film mishandles too many disjointed elements and never really lays its central issues out clearly - unlike other work I've seen around this community.

This one should be a real crowd pleaser. It's a women's film that evokes both laughter and tears. It's got a sympathetic Muslim protagonist, Zoina, who evolves into a feminist icon. The musical sound track is emotional dynamite, even though the lyrics are largely untranslated and may, one suspects, contain information that would illuminate the narrative. There are lots of fascinating cross-cultural devices. All this and a happy ending too. The only problem with Inch Allah Dimanche is that it's artistically spurious. The most glaring deficiency is character development. There is no explanation, for example, as to how this Algerian woman came to be such a cultural anomaly. We can see her growing anger and rebellion under the rain of abuse from her mother-in-law and husband, but where is the wellspring of prior experience? And, even more troublesome, how do we explain the sudden transformation of her heretofore stereotypical Arab husband in the final scene? Audiences, however, are likely love this film in spite of its obvious flaws.

Whilst we've seen many movies about the problems that ethnic minorities experience integrating in an adopted country, the experience of France is unusual inasmuch as the main immigrant population is Algerian - a country whose customs and culture are in stark isolation to those of the majority of the French. Whilst the film is flawed with a number of clichés to make it watchable and enjoyable rather than a documentary, it is serious filmmaking drawing attention to an unusual dilemma and quite engrossing.