Written by Ramsey Tesdell
UPDATE – Captain Abu Raed wins the World Cinema Audience Award, and Recycle wins the World Cinema Cinematography Award. Congrats to both films!
More pictures of the cast and director here.
PARK CITY, UTAH – Many words have been written about Amin Matalqa’s Captain Abu Raed. With all the words written, all the interviews conducted, and pictures taken, funny that few had actually seen the film. Jordan has been holding her breath for the past several months as filming finished and editing began.
A collective sigh of relief was heard at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival when the gathering crowd enthusiastically greeted Matalqa and the cast in chilly Park City, Utah. Much anticipation had caused a rather nervous yet festive opening screening.
Captain Abu Raed is based on the age-old tale of an older person befriending children while encouraging them to reach for their dreams. While nothing unique, Captain Abu Raed enchants the youth of his neighborhood with made up stories. Abu Raed, who is a janitor at the airport, is mistaken for a pilot after wearing an old pilot’s hat home one day. Played by Nadim Sawalha, Captain Abu Raed encourages the children’s imagination with his epic stories, but also meddles with the children’s personal lives.
It is evident from the opening shot that this film was written with the backdrop of Amman in mind. The film mixed beautiful cinematography and gentle pans to capture Amman’s greatest visual assets: the magnificent views. Stunning views of the Citadel, the theater downtown, and even of the Royál Hotel on third circle, helped set a scene of wonder and excitement.
I have no doubt that audiences in Jordan will be awe-struck when the see beautiful Amman on the big screen for the first time.
While slow at times, the film builds to an ending that few can predict. We follow the daily grind of Abu Raed as he learns to enjoy the attention paid by neighborhood kids. As he gets to know the children, he also learns of their struggles. For example, Tareq, played by Udey Al-Qiddissi is forced to sell candies on the streets by his dad instead of going to school. Abu Raed tries to help by buying the candy each morning, but he causes more problems than he solves.
A major highlight of the film is the performances of the actors. Kudos to Matalqa for his selection of actors and abilities as a director. Abu Murad (Ghandi Saber) offers an engaging and dynamic big screen debut, which no doubt will be the first of many more. As one audience member put it, “we expected that kind of performance from Nadim [Sawalha], but were treated with an equally stunning experience by Ghandi.”
Rana Sultan is wonderfully funny as she turns down various offers of marriage, and equally charming as she helps Abu Raed in the dramatic finish. The difference between West Ammani culture and everyone else is prominently displayed.
As we get to know Abu Raed through the always-beautiful Nour (Rana Sultan), we watch as the lives of a very divided society play out in different ways. In one scene, Murad (Hussein Al-Sous) puts it bluntly by saying, “He’s not a pilot. People like us don’t become pilots.”
Generally solid and enjoyable, however, I have two qualms.
First, in my opinion, the film attempts to balance between an Arab audience and a Western audience while not fitting either perfectly. It is as if one audience couldn’t be decided on so both were picked.
A lack of Arab cultural knowledge will be a significant test for audiences around the world. Several scenes used aspects of Jordanian humor, that fell awkwardly flat with the mostly American or Western audience. It seemed that the humor was either lost in the translation or wasn’t picked up on by the crowd.
For example, in one scene, Captain Abu Raed heads home after telling the children stories. As he walks away, one of the kids jumps up and starts dancing and clapping. A well-choreographed scene that is truly funny to Arabs, who know what happens when people get in groups to clap and dance, hardly induced a chuckle from the crowd. Meant as a funny scene, it plays out for a full 5 seconds, but instead of laughter, an awkward silence followed.
Second, the music, while written specifically for the film, was too emotional and overly dramatic. At times, it nearly ruined the beautiful images being show on the screen. Especially towards the end of the film, dramatic action on screen with the overly sentimental music was distracting rather than captivating. The score is an attempt to draw a Western audience into the film, but did the opposite.
Despite these drawbacks, and riding on an incredible wave of media attention and local support, the future for Captain Abu Raed and everyone involved in the making of, is bright.
After the film finished and the crowd burst into applause, and Amin et al. marched up to the front of theater for a Q&A session. Despite being hailed as the first feature film from Jordan, more accurately, Captain Abu Raed should be known as the first feature film to make it out of Jordan. For more on this movie, Struggle of Jerash, go here.
This film helps blaze a trail for other Jordanian films. From his efforts here, it is clear that Matalqa is a talented director and he has a talent for story telling. There is no question about the quality of the film. The only question that remains and possibly most important question is: Will it be profitable? And only time has an answer for that question.
Screenshots courtesy Sundance FF
[…] 7iber Dot Com placed an observative post today on Captain Abu Raed: ReviewHere’s a quick excerpt […]
Great review Ramsey! Really enjoyed reading it.
Great review Ramsey! Really enjoyed reading it.
Thanks for the review, but I do have a couple of qualms with the attempts at constructive criticism.
First, the decision is clear that this is a film for a universal audience. American and non-American audiences were laughing and crying in all the right parts. Rami Samara (the chubby boy) dancing is not a joke, but an endearing moment celebrating the innocence of children. You totally missed the point here.
Second, I think the film won the audience award and a standing ovation at every screening for a reason. People connected with it. I didn’t make a film for MTV viewers who want instant brainless cuts. If you liked Transformers, don’t bother coming to Captain Abu Raed.
Third, it’s not based on any age-old tale. Choose your words wisely when you
And finally, I don’t understand what you mean by “The score was meant to draw Western Audiences, but did the opposite.” Everyone was praising what a beautiful score it has at the Q&A’s.
I don’t mean to sound defensive about the film because everyone is entitled to their opinion, but you’re way off on audience reactions. Captain Abu Raed was a huge hit with audiences at Sundance this year and I expect it to be equally huge in Jordan. Everyone is falling in love with Abu Raed, and judging from the email responses I’ve been getting, these characters are resonating beyond just the screen.
Thanks for the review, but I do have a couple of qualms with the attempts at constructive criticism.
First, the decision is clear that this is a film for a universal audience. American and non-American audiences were laughing and crying in all the right parts. Rami Samara (the chubby boy) dancing is not a joke, but an endearing moment celebrating the innocence of children. You totally missed the point here.
Second, I think the film won the audience award and a standing ovation at every screening for a reason. People connected with it. I didn’t make a film for MTV viewers who want instant brainless cuts. If you liked Transformers, don’t bother coming to Captain Abu Raed.
Third, it’s not based on any age-old tale. Choose your words wisely when you
And finally, I don’t understand what you mean by “The score was meant to draw Western Audiences, but did the opposite.” Everyone was praising what a beautiful score it has at the Q&A’s.
I don’t mean to sound defensive about the film because everyone is entitled to their opinion, but you’re way off on audience reactions. Captain Abu Raed was a huge hit with audiences at Sundance this year and I expect it to be equally huge in Jordan. Everyone is falling in love with Abu Raed, and judging from the email responses I’ve been getting, these characters are resonating beyond just the screen.
Everybody loved the movie….
Wooptee dooo
Take it easy Fellini, people tend to have different opinions about stuff.
Everybody loved the movie….
Wooptee dooo
Take it easy Fellini, people tend to have different opinions about stuff.
The director Amin sounds very aggresive. Take it easy man, we all have opinions and you are trying to convince every one that your film is a masterpiece.
The director Amin sounds very aggresive. Take it easy man, we all have opinions and you are trying to convince every one that your film is a masterpiece.
The Director dude is really sensitive for a global wonderkid phenom. The movie sucked on every possible level. No big deal. Hopefully your next project will receive less hype and be worth watching.
Just because he is the only Jordanian to get a chance to mae a movie , does not make it the best movie ever by default.
The Director dude is really sensitive for a global wonderkid phenom. The movie sucked on every possible level. No big deal. Hopefully your next project will receive less hype and be worth watching.
Just because he is the only Jordanian to get a chance to mae a movie , does not make it the best movie ever by default.
Captain Abu Raed was an amzing movie, left me in tears… Proud of such a movie to come out of our Jordan
Captain Abu Raed was an amzing movie, left me in tears… Proud of such a movie to come out of our Jordan
My choice of words will attempt to match your very cold discription of such a great milestone in Jordan’s cinema history… Go *uck yourself!
Thanks
My choice of words will attempt to match your very cold discription of such a great milestone in Jordan’s cinema history… Go *uck yourself!
Thanks
No is arguing that the film isn’t good or that it isn’t a milestone. In fact the review is arguing just the opposite.
Jordan and Jordanians everywhere are proud of Captain Abu Raed and Amin et al.
No is arguing that the film isn’t good or that it isn’t a milestone. In fact the review is arguing just the opposite.
Jordan and Jordanians everywhere are proud of Captain Abu Raed and Amin et al.
After almost two years of endless hype, the expectations were set way too high, and it was impossible to match the hype even if one ended up making the Arabic hybrid-version of The Shawshank Redemption and Trainspotting
Add to this that I am negative human being by nature, and that cinema taste is a highly subjective matter and here are my brief thoughts:
The plot had no flow what so ever and was all over the place. The domestic violence thingie takes center stage late in the movie and overpowers everything. The narration gets a little boring especially after the 1:20 mark. Some scenes like the “hunchback of Notre Dame smashing your head with a rock thingie” was absolutely unnecessary, and just like many other scenes it felt like a filler.
The ending was very irrational with hopes of attracting sympathy; after all who tries to have a life-changing heartily conversation with a drunkard at dawn right after his wife and kids are stolen away …Abu Raed was asking for it. You don’t kidnap the man’s wife and kids and ask him to react rationally, especially when he is drunk. Murad growing up to be a pilot was seen coming faster than the “You’ve got Mail” ending.
The supporting characters although funny at times were shallow and had minimal contribution to the plot. The lead female character disappears for a good 30 minutes in the middle of the movie.
While the movie was light on the clichés of Jordanian drama – (it did have its “shoo bitgool” moments like: “But he is beating you up and the kids too!!” but in general it avoided them) but of course not without making up for it through the clichés of American drama. Maybe a justifiable trade for a startup director who is trying to break away from Arab drama clichés. On many occasions it felt like the script was written in English and translated to Arabic. For example when Abu Raed hand Murad the pilot hat the line “It’s ok” worked much better for me than “ma3laish”.
Camera
There were some great shots and camera angles in the movie. Unfortunately they were ruined by overemphasis. The director is so in love with his photography he is literarily screaming at you: “Isn’t that a great shot …seriously look what I can do with a camera …can you see Abu Raed standing in the dark in front of this door with a fluorescent light on top…isn’t it great.. here look at it some more (still). What about that split screen with the kids washing their hands and the mother cooking…damn I’m good”. Then you can see him in the background proceeds to high fiving himself. Nevertheless the artsy fartsy part of the shooting was not that bad.
On many occasions camera zooms were unnecessary and unnatural. When the kid hands Abu Raed his bags back why do we need a zoom and three cuts to the hand exchange and back. In one of Murad’s early encounters with captain Abu Raed you could actually feel the jerking action of the camera as it zooms towards Murad. By the end of “Abu Raed and the female lead character are driving away from the airport in her car” scene I can easily tell you the number of Abu Raed nose hairs.
On a separate note, how many shots of East Amman’s building crammed on top of each can you squeeze in a two-hour film? Okay, we got.it…it is not a secret that East Amman looks great when you look at it while enjoying your 8JDs continental breakfast at Wild Jordan. All fifteen bars, restaurants and coffee shops which have this view know it. And what’s up with the Amman landmarks: the flag, the bridge, the castle mountain, the car museum, the mosque … Ministry of Tourism promotional videos has less emphasis on landmarks…I spent the whole movie waiting a shot of Petra and the guy water skiing in Aqaba. Oh well, I guess one have to keep the target audience in mind.
Kids exploitation.
No plot can force the audience into fake “ahhs and ooohs” like a bunch of poor kids. With the chubby dancing kid as the cherry on the top. Maybe a few cute cats with pink ribbons could have done a better job. Or maybe a cute dog playing the improbable Ammanite stray doggie. Dureid Lahham played a similar version of Abu Raed in Kafroon , with a tighter plot and a more genuine and loveable lead.
Sexual tension
Maybe I have a perverted view on things but wasn’t there a little too much sexual tension between Abu Raed and the lead female character? If anything it was more probable than the unclear father-daughter relationship – if that’s what the director was shooting for. At the conclusion of the “laying on their backs sharing worries on the roof” scene. there could have been easily a cute awkward kiss, ending with uncomfortable silence and “I have to go now” …cut… Now that’s directing.
Conclusion
Think about it as a bunch of college students studying abroad who put together a Dabkeh show for international week. It may not be exactly be traditional Dabkeh, the costumes have nothing to do with the traditional ones, the coordination is minimal and three quarters of the participants have never seen a dabkeh before. But with some loud music and jumping around, everybody loves it and it leaves a good impression
The best thing that can be said about the movie is it is the anti-FUBU. It is a movie made by them for them (and “them” is not meant to imply anything negative). From Amman’s skyline to the made-up kids’ school uniforms (so the brown jump suits does not present Jordan in a positive manner?) the target audience is the international stage and the Sundance film festival.
The director has never claimed that he is trying to make a cinematographic masterpiece. He wanted to make a decent film with good resources and a professional crew to present Arabs and Jordan from a perspective that breaks stereotypes…..etc, etc. The target audience liked it and that means it was successful. So congratulations.
Personally, I liked Suffi Suffi much better.
P.S. I don’t know what to make of the shot-from-the-trunk Tarantino tribute, but I hope the Sundance people liked it.
After almost two years of endless hype, the expectations were set way too high, and it was impossible to match the hype even if one ended up making the Arabic hybrid-version of The Shawshank Redemption and Trainspotting
Add to this that I am negative human being by nature, and that cinema taste is a highly subjective matter and here are my brief thoughts:
The plot had no flow what so ever and was all over the place. The domestic violence thingie takes center stage late in the movie and overpowers everything. The narration gets a little boring especially after the 1:20 mark. Some scenes like the “hunchback of Notre Dame smashing your head with a rock thingie” was absolutely unnecessary, and just like many other scenes it felt like a filler.
The ending was very irrational with hopes of attracting sympathy; after all who tries to have a life-changing heartily conversation with a drunkard at dawn right after his wife and kids are stolen away …Abu Raed was asking for it. You don’t kidnap the man’s wife and kids and ask him to react rationally, especially when he is drunk. Murad growing up to be a pilot was seen coming faster than the “You’ve got Mail” ending.
The supporting characters although funny at times were shallow and had minimal contribution to the plot. The lead female character disappears for a good 30 minutes in the middle of the movie.
While the movie was light on the clichés of Jordanian drama – (it did have its “shoo bitgool” moments like: “But he is beating you up and the kids too!!” but in general it avoided them) but of course not without making up for it through the clichés of American drama. Maybe a justifiable trade for a startup director who is trying to break away from Arab drama clichés. On many occasions it felt like the script was written in English and translated to Arabic. For example when Abu Raed hand Murad the pilot hat the line “It’s ok” worked much better for me than “ma3laish”.
Camera
There were some great shots and camera angles in the movie. Unfortunately they were ruined by overemphasis. The director is so in love with his photography he is literarily screaming at you: “Isn’t that a great shot …seriously look what I can do with a camera …can you see Abu Raed standing in the dark in front of this door with a fluorescent light on top…isn’t it great.. here look at it some more (still). What about that split screen with the kids washing their hands and the mother cooking…damn I’m good”. Then you can see him in the background proceeds to high fiving himself. Nevertheless the artsy fartsy part of the shooting was not that bad.
On many occasions camera zooms were unnecessary and unnatural. When the kid hands Abu Raed his bags back why do we need a zoom and three cuts to the hand exchange and back. In one of Murad’s early encounters with captain Abu Raed you could actually feel the jerking action of the camera as it zooms towards Murad. By the end of “Abu Raed and the female lead character are driving away from the airport in her car” scene I can easily tell you the number of Abu Raed nose hairs.
On a separate note, how many shots of East Amman’s building crammed on top of each can you squeeze in a two-hour film? Okay, we got.it…it is not a secret that East Amman looks great when you look at it while enjoying your 8JDs continental breakfast at Wild Jordan. All fifteen bars, restaurants and coffee shops which have this view know it. And what’s up with the Amman landmarks: the flag, the bridge, the castle mountain, the car museum, the mosque … Ministry of Tourism promotional videos has less emphasis on landmarks…I spent the whole movie waiting a shot of Petra and the guy water skiing in Aqaba. Oh well, I guess one have to keep the target audience in mind.
Kids exploitation.
No plot can force the audience into fake “ahhs and ooohs” like a bunch of poor kids. With the chubby dancing kid as the cherry on the top. Maybe a few cute cats with pink ribbons could have done a better job. Or maybe a cute dog playing the improbable Ammanite stray doggie. Dureid Lahham played a similar version of Abu Raed in Kafroon , with a tighter plot and a more genuine and loveable lead.
Sexual tension
Maybe I have a perverted view on things but wasn’t there a little too much sexual tension between Abu Raed and the lead female character? If anything it was more probable than the unclear father-daughter relationship – if that’s what the director was shooting for. At the conclusion of the “laying on their backs sharing worries on the roof” scene. there could have been easily a cute awkward kiss, ending with uncomfortable silence and “I have to go now” …cut… Now that’s directing.
Conclusion
Think about it as a bunch of college students studying abroad who put together a Dabkeh show for international week. It may not be exactly be traditional Dabkeh, the costumes have nothing to do with the traditional ones, the coordination is minimal and three quarters of the participants have never seen a dabkeh before. But with some loud music and jumping around, everybody loves it and it leaves a good impression
The best thing that can be said about the movie is it is the anti-FUBU. It is a movie made by them for them (and “them” is not meant to imply anything negative). From Amman’s skyline to the made-up kids’ school uniforms (so the brown jump suits does not present Jordan in a positive manner?) the target audience is the international stage and the Sundance film festival.
The director has never claimed that he is trying to make a cinematographic masterpiece. He wanted to make a decent film with good resources and a professional crew to present Arabs and Jordan from a perspective that breaks stereotypes…..etc, etc. The target audience liked it and that means it was successful. So congratulations.
Personally, I liked Suffi Suffi much better.
P.S. I don’t know what to make of the shot-from-the-trunk Tarantino tribute, but I hope the Sundance people liked it.
Musa, so you posted this comment everywhere CAR was mentioned?
Musa, so you posted this comment everywhere CAR was mentioned?
Kinzi,
If you noticed I have put some effort in writing my review and I chose to post it on various places. Was that wrong?
Kinzi,
If you noticed I have put some effort in writing my review and I chose to post it on various places. Was that wrong?
Musa no, not ‘wrong’. Wrong isn’t the word, as it was your well-thought out opinion and this is a public forum. But, imo, with blogging, comments that are more specific and interactive with what was expressed by the writer of the post are the most impacting.
And it seemed your purpose wasn’t just to add a different opinion and take on a review, but pour contempt on Amin. That contempt, to me, lessened the value of what you said.
Musa no, not ‘wrong’. Wrong isn’t the word, as it was your well-thought out opinion and this is a public forum. But, imo, with blogging, comments that are more specific and interactive with what was expressed by the writer of the post are the most impacting.
And it seemed your purpose wasn’t just to add a different opinion and take on a review, but pour contempt on Amin. That contempt, to me, lessened the value of what you said.
I think the movie had some potential there , but there was no consistency in the story line , niether in Plot/Sub-Plot relations , and in my openion the wrost thing that might improve the movie is the edting, i just felt that the editor is not well cultured , there was lot of jumps up and down emotionlly , and this problem if it passed in the screenwriting process ,in my openion the editor should be like a goalKeeper!!
And good luck Ameen, filmmaking is a long way process , and am sure you ll do some good work someday.
I think the movie had some potential there , but there was no consistency in the story line , niether in Plot/Sub-Plot relations , and in my openion the wrost thing that might improve the movie is the edting, i just felt that the editor is not well cultured , there was lot of jumps up and down emotionlly , and this problem if it passed in the screenwriting process ,in my openion the editor should be like a goalKeeper!!
And good luck Ameen, filmmaking is a long way process , and am sure you ll do some good work someday.
Kinzi,
Contempt is absolutely not the appropriate word here. There was absolutely nothing personal in my review. It was simply my honest opinion about the film and excuse me if it did not comply with the obligatory (….) fest celebrating the “first” Jordanian movie.
Kinzi,
Contempt is absolutely not the appropriate word here. There was absolutely nothing personal in my review. It was simply my honest opinion about the film and excuse me if it did not comply with the obligatory (….) fest celebrating the “first” Jordanian movie.
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