Rating: 3.5/5.0
Chicago – Haifaa Al-Mansour’s “Wadjda” is a deceptive film. It feels like a relatively slight story in that it’s about a headstrong girl who wants a bike. That’s it. Pretty simple stuff. And yet it’s not simple at all in Wadjda’s part of the world. She is a 10-year-old Saudi girl and not only are Saudi girls not supposed to ride bikes, they’re not supposed to even show their faces if men could possibly be in their line of sight. With a strong breakthrough performance at its core, “Wadjda” is a film about how cultural and social revolution starts quietly in neighborhoods and homes where girls want to ride bikes.
Wadjda’s mother (Reem Abdullah) works hard, forced to ride in a car with broken air conditioning for hours just to makes ends meet as Wadjda’s father (Sultan Al Assaf) is absent for weeks at a time.
Chicago – Haifaa Al-Mansour’s “Wadjda” is a deceptive film. It feels like a relatively slight story in that it’s about a headstrong girl who wants a bike. That’s it. Pretty simple stuff. And yet it’s not simple at all in Wadjda’s part of the world. She is a 10-year-old Saudi girl and not only are Saudi girls not supposed to ride bikes, they’re not supposed to even show their faces if men could possibly be in their line of sight. With a strong breakthrough performance at its core, “Wadjda” is a film about how cultural and social revolution starts quietly in neighborhoods and homes where girls want to ride bikes.
Wadjda’s mother (Reem Abdullah) works hard, forced to ride in a car with broken air conditioning for hours just to makes ends meet as Wadjda’s father (Sultan Al Assaf) is absent for weeks at a time.
- 9/20/2013
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
The most rewarding movies are the ones that take you into an unfamiliar world, with rich characters and a unique story. And the upcoming "Wadjda" not only does that, but it brings a big heart to go with it, and at the center of it all, a dynamic lead performance by the young and thoroughly charming Waad Mohammed. So needless to say, this is one we highly endorse, but in case you need more convincing, here's the new U.S. trailer for the film. The Saudi Arabian film is the first to be directed a Saudi woman, and Haifaa Al-Mansour makes the most of her debut effort. The film follows the titular Wadjda, a mix-tape making, Converse wearing girl whose dreams far exceed the expectations put on women in the country. But for now, she'd just be content to ride a bike with her friend Abdullah (Abdullrahman Al Gohani). When...
- 8/19/2013
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
The World's End | Breathe In | Wadjda | The Frozen Ground | Easy Money | Eden | Suspension Of Disbelief | Roman Holiday | D-Day
The World's End (15)
(Edgar Wright, 2013 UK) Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Paddy Considine, Martin Freeman, Eddie Marsan, Rosamund Pike. 109 mins
Wright brings another Hollywood scenario down to earth by virtue of an utterly British setting, and the clash is still hilarious. Especially for the 1990s generation, since this sees Pegg and co attempting to relive their youth with an indie-dance-backed pub crawl down memory lane. Has their hometown changed because of high-street homogenisation, robotic infiltration, or the effects of 12 pints? All three, it turns out.
Breathe In (15)
(Drake Doremus, 2013, Us) Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Amy Ryan. 97 mins
As he did with Like Crazy, Doremus tells an age-old story with uncanny intimacy and powerful acting, particularly from Jones. Playing an exchange student in New England, she's drawn to Pearce's musician dad, with inevitable consequences.
The World's End (15)
(Edgar Wright, 2013 UK) Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Paddy Considine, Martin Freeman, Eddie Marsan, Rosamund Pike. 109 mins
Wright brings another Hollywood scenario down to earth by virtue of an utterly British setting, and the clash is still hilarious. Especially for the 1990s generation, since this sees Pegg and co attempting to relive their youth with an indie-dance-backed pub crawl down memory lane. Has their hometown changed because of high-street homogenisation, robotic infiltration, or the effects of 12 pints? All three, it turns out.
Breathe In (15)
(Drake Doremus, 2013, Us) Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Amy Ryan. 97 mins
As he did with Like Crazy, Doremus tells an age-old story with uncanny intimacy and powerful acting, particularly from Jones. Playing an exchange student in New England, she's drawn to Pearce's musician dad, with inevitable consequences.
- 7/20/2013
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
★★★★☆ Having already made history as the first full-length feature ever to have been filmed entirely inside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Haifaa al-Mansour's charming debut, Wadjda (2012), cleverly conceals a wealth of sociopolitical complexity beneath its deceptively simplistic central narrative. Featuring a breakout performance from 12-year-old, Riyadh-born non-professional Waad Mohammed as the "spunky little girl" of the film's title, this even-handed fable portrays the Kingdom as a nation on the peripheries of great change, with gender equality foremost in the minds of thousands of young, aspirational Saudi women.
Each day, en route to her all-girls school, Wadjda passes a toy store housing a beautiful green bicycle. Keen to be able to race against a local boy, despite that fact that it's 'forbidden' for women to ride bikes, Wadjda begins her own black market operation in the playground selling 'illicit products' such as jewellery. After a few close calls, our protagonists...
Each day, en route to her all-girls school, Wadjda passes a toy store housing a beautiful green bicycle. Keen to be able to race against a local boy, despite that fact that it's 'forbidden' for women to ride bikes, Wadjda begins her own black market operation in the playground selling 'illicit products' such as jewellery. After a few close calls, our protagonists...
- 7/18/2013
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Hafaa Al-Mansour directs and also writes the winner of three awards at the Venice International Film Festival, and winner of two awards at the Dubai International Film Festival. We invite you to watch the trailer for Wadjda which stars Waad Mohammed and Reem Abdullah, Abdullrahman Al Gohani, Ahd and Sultan Al Assaf, and is distributed Stateside via Sony Pictures Classics, with a yet-to-be-determined release date. Wadjda is a 10-year-old girl living in a suburb of Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. Although she lives in a conservative world, Wadjda is fun loving, entrepreneurial and always pushing the boundaries of what she can get away with. After a fight with her friend Abdullah, a neighborhood boy she shouldn't be playing with, Wadjda sees a beautiful green bicycle for sale. She wants the bicycle...
- 7/4/2013
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Directed by written by Haifaa Al-Mansour, the drama from Sony Classics opens on August 30th exclusive to Los Angeles and New York. Also with Abdullrahman Al Gohani, Ahd and Sultan Al Assaf, the story tells of the title character Wadjda, a 10-year-old girl living in a suburb of Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. Although she lives in a conservative world, Wadjda is fun loving, entrepreneurial and always pushing the boundaries of what she can get away with. After a fight with her friend Abdullah, a neighborhood boy she shouldn't be playing with, Wadjda sees a beautiful green...
- 6/6/2013
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Watch a clip from Wadjda starring Waad Mohammed. Directed by Haifaa Al-Mansour, the multiple award-winning drama also stars Reem Abdullah, Abdullrahman Al Gohani, Ahd and Sultan Al Assaf. Wadjda is a 10-year-old girl living in a suburb of Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. Although she lives in a conservative world, Wadjda is fun loving, entrepreneurial and always pushing the boundaries of what she can get away with. After a fight with her friend Abdullah, a neighborhood boy she shouldn't be playing with, Wadjda sees a beautiful green bicycle for sale. She wants the bicycle desperately so that she can beat Abdullah in a race. But Wadjda's mother won't allow it, fearing repercussions from a society that sees bicycles as dangerous...
- 4/15/2013
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Watch a clip from Wadjda starring Waad Mohammed. Directed by Haifaa Al-Mansour, the multiple award-winning drama also stars Reem Abdullah, Abdullrahman Al Gohani, Ahd and Sultan Al Assaf. Wadjda is a 10-year-old girl living in a suburb of Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. Although she lives in a conservative world, Wadjda is fun loving, entrepreneurial and always pushing the boundaries of what she can get away with. After a fight with her friend Abdullah, a neighborhood boy she shouldn't be playing with, Wadjda sees a beautiful green bicycle for sale. She wants the bicycle desperately so that she can beat Abdullah in a race. But Wadjda's mother won't allow it, fearing repercussions from a society that sees bicycles as dangerous...
- 4/15/2013
- Upcoming-Movies.com
With over 200 films having screened at the 56th London Film Festival in October, it’s nearly impossible to say with genuine certainty what films presented were truly the cream of the entire crop. Yet, by metaphorically placing an ear to the ground (or reading Twitter, perhaps) a picture begins to form of what underwhelmed and what delighted or surprised.
Falling firmly into the latter category is Haifaa Al-Mansour’s debut feature film, Wadjda, which earned a “special mention” at the London Film Festival’s awards ceremony. Its two sold-out festival screenings helped earn UK distribution for the charming, yet remarkably brave tale of a fierce, young Saudi girl who rejects society’s expectations of her. Written and directed by Saudi Arabia’s first female director, there’s no denying how feminist a work Wadjda is. That such a film should be produced within the strict Islamist kingdom to begin with...
Falling firmly into the latter category is Haifaa Al-Mansour’s debut feature film, Wadjda, which earned a “special mention” at the London Film Festival’s awards ceremony. Its two sold-out festival screenings helped earn UK distribution for the charming, yet remarkably brave tale of a fierce, young Saudi girl who rejects society’s expectations of her. Written and directed by Saudi Arabia’s first female director, there’s no denying how feminist a work Wadjda is. That such a film should be produced within the strict Islamist kingdom to begin with...
- 11/23/2012
- by Jeff Galasso
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
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