crossposted from H-URBAN <H-URBAN@UICVM.UIC.EDU>
On June 14, 1995, Stephen Holden of the NEW YORK TIMES reviewed "Bab
el Oued City", directed by Merzak Allouache, a film that "presents an
ominous, intensely atmospheric portrait of a working class
neighborhood in Algiers. It is a place where poverty, Islamic
fundamentalism and the materialist mass culture beamed into people's
homes via satellite fuel an incendiary mix of conflicting attitudes."
The film is about the tensions between young Algerians who
feud over fundamentalism, with the fundamentalist side using
gang tactics to impose its influence. The young men argue over
the role of women and sex in Islamic society as well as other aspects
of contemporary Algerian politics and culture.
Holden observes
These conflicts are played out against a teeming urban
canvas that shows a city sinking in corruption and
duplicity as more and more of its inhabitants are either
driven away by the rising tide of fundamentalism or give
up hope and leave.
Amidst the fundamentalist ambiance exist homages to American culture
in the form of teenagers' tee-shirts and forbidden soap operas
secretly watched by Algiers' housewives.
Symbolic of the city's decline is a blind woman who, guided through
the city and observing a foul odor, is assured that "the city is
thriving and even cleaner than she remembers."
Holden concludes
Filmed in 1993 on the streets of Algiers, which looks stunning
despite its poverty and desperation, "Bab el Oued City" is an
elegy for a city that has fallen on hard times.
Source: New York Times, June 14, 1995, B3