Mille mois
Taking place in 1981, the film focuses on Mehdi, a young boy living in a mountain village in the Moroccan Atlas. He is waiting for his father who is supposed to return from working in France. At least, this is what his mother and his grandfather tell him. In reality, Mehdi’s father is in prison. At any moment, the child’s mental balance is about to be disturbed…
Faouzi Bensaidi’s experience ranges from theatre specialist and actor to scriptwriter. His first feature film is a perfect combination of all three: classical dramaturgy, almost mechanically linked scenes coming one after the other in perfectly logical order and, last, certain poetry interweaving the shots. All three make this first film a rounded off accomplishment. It is classical by all means, with manifest use of background shots placing the protagonists in a setting reminding us of Greek tragedies. Nevertheless, A Thousand Months is a contemporary work which does not leave out the current political and cultural context in Morocco and certainly does not forget that a film is here to be seen. The comic notes interspersed here and there enhance the story abounding in literary references. (Festival information; photo: © trigon-film)
In two hours the film goes through an entire palette of themes of life, with a good dose of tenderness, humanity, humour and enuineness. Moreover, the political and social reality in which the film takes place is perfectly evoked by the director.