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I watched this twice thinking surely I missed the point during the first viewing. No, I didn’t. I have no idea what I was supposed to learn or appreciate from this movie. Certainly, the two little girls were nothing less than endearing, and their acting was beyond expectations, but the story around them was in many ways hideous, but hardly kinky.
Twenty five year old London resident Julia learns of her lover’s infidelity and takes her two girls to Morocco where she hopes to find another world “where there is no pain.” That world consists of becoming a Sufi – a Muslim mystic. She goes there despite having no means of support except the lover she just left. We find out later that she was never married to him, and her two girls were out of wedlock children. Being out of the country of their birth where she might have had some legal recourse, and allowing him no access to his daughters – how long did she think he would continue sending money for their support?
She meets Bilal, an acrobat and sleight of hand artist in the colorful but chaotic marketplace in Marrakesh. It seems almost immediately after their first meeting she takes him into her bed, and makes no effort to either hide or explain it to her girls. Her 8 year old daughter Bea will prove to be a far better judge of human character, especially the male character, than her flighty and delusional mother. Bilal is very charming and affectionate with the girls, and they take to him immediately – no doubt missing a father in their life. It’s not clear when, but after a few weeks, maybe months at most, her English “husband” stops sending money. About the same time the less than reliable Bilal walks out of his job at a rock quarry, and the pair are left with no means to pay the rent or even buy food.
They decide to go to Bilal’s village of birth. However, almost immediately after arriving, a young woman with a baby appears and it seems she was previously Bilal’s wife or at least lover. An elder in the village reminds Bilal by telling a story to the daughter Lucy about how it is a mortal sin to abandon a wife. Bilal knows that they cannot stay in his village because of her presence and the stern disapproval voiced by the wise old man.
Julia and her girls go back to Marrakesh, but Bilal goes to another place, supposedly for work. The precocious little Bea has already figured out that he is probably going back to his wife, or to another village where he has yet another wife, and that he is probably wanted by the police. Julia and her girls are taken into the home of a French gentleman, and no good reason is ever presented for his kindness. It seems he and Julia share one thing in common – their contempt of European society. However, he does not share Julia’s vision that the way to escape it is to indulge in Muslim religion mysticism. Bea becomes quite affectionate towards another woman guest in the home, and rebels when her mother says they are going to Algiers so she can see some Sheik who is a Sufi guru. Amazingly, the selfish Julia, rather than delay or give up her dream of pursuing some kind of spiritual inner peace and stay where she and her girls have security, food, and shelter – she agrees and leaves her eight year old daughter behind with people she has known for only a few days, or a few weeks at most.
The biggest surprise to me, and a totally unexplained surprise in the movie storyline occurs when Julia and her younger daughter Lucy get to Algiers and meet the wise holy man. She confesses during her first discussion with him that she has brought only one of her children with her, and that she was not married to their father and most surprisingly, that she weeps and admits she is still very much in love with him. The only good word about him that she ever said in the three quarters of the movie up to this point was simply that “he was a writer and a poet, and a rather good one.” She has some sort of epiphany during her tearful admission that she still loves him, and realizes to the guru that “I am not ready am I”. Its not clear whether she sees how farcical this “beautiful inner world is”, or just that she is not prepared at this time to continue pursuing her desire to be a Sufi.
I will stop the narrative there so as not to spoil the ending. However, when you get to it, you are likely to have my reaction: “so what was this all about? What did she learn? What her girls learn? Where is she going now?”
Actually, I do not recommend this – I give it three stars instead of one because those girls were such a joy to watch, and honestly, they are the only characters in the movie worth caring about. Certainly, I developed no respect for, and even lost my tolerance for Julia, and likewise Bilal. The ending scene was soppy, unbelievable, and almost preposterous. Was there some kind of hint there about her and the girls’ future? There were some great scenes of life in Marrakesh, the village and the valley just outside the village, and the desert journeys.
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