Let me apologize for that play of words. Exit Marrakech is Caroline Link's new film and her first work in five years, slightly over 10 years after she won the Foreign Language Oscar for "Nowhere in Africa". Josef Bierbichler, who played the central male character in her last movie is in here as well, even if only for a very short scene as promising young actor Samuel Schneider is the center here. He plays a teenager named Ben. Ben spends the summer holidays with his dad, who he has not seen for quite some time, in Morocco. All in all, Schneider carries the film nicely during its two hours and has a good scene here and there. Same could be said for Hafsia Herzi, who proves here that she is more than just eye-candy. The real heart of the film is Ulrich Tukur, however, as a career-driven, family-repellent father who tries to rebond with his son and it takes extraordinary dangerous situations until he finally succeeds. All the scenes he's in and especially his interactions with Schneider's character are the should of the movie and even if he is not really the central character, this movie is much more about him opening up and becoming a good father thanks to a change in character than about a particularly mentionable development by Ben. He's a anti-authority student early on and this does not really change until the end. My favorite scene in their trouble relationship was basically when Ben sung a certain lullaby to Karima and later we hear the father sing the same to Ben. A truly sweet moment, which showed there's always been bridges between the two. They just need reconditioning.
I'm not really sure how I liked the diabetes sub-plot as it was really obvious from very early on that this is gonna be a problem and there will be some huge dramatic escalation towards the end. Generally I don't mind predictability in movies if it is executed well, but I still believe it could have done better and more quietly impressive than Ben falling down theatrically in front of the other car. There's a couple other minor criticisms, but neither is severe enough to say the film is not worth recommending. I liked how they did not go for an unrealistic happy-ending love story, but choose a way with which it all ended kinda messy with the bonding between Karima and Ben. Sure it was sad how things unfolded, but there really was no other option that would not have sacrificed credibility. Beyond that, the Moroccan landscapes were truly beautiful to watch and one of the main reasons why this needs to be seen on the big screen. Of course, fine cinematography is almost a given for Link, as we know from her earlier works as well. So yeah, "Exit Marrakech" is very much worth a watch.
I'm not really sure how I liked the diabetes sub-plot as it was really obvious from very early on that this is gonna be a problem and there will be some huge dramatic escalation towards the end. Generally I don't mind predictability in movies if it is executed well, but I still believe it could have done better and more quietly impressive than Ben falling down theatrically in front of the other car. There's a couple other minor criticisms, but neither is severe enough to say the film is not worth recommending. I liked how they did not go for an unrealistic happy-ending love story, but choose a way with which it all ended kinda messy with the bonding between Karima and Ben. Sure it was sad how things unfolded, but there really was no other option that would not have sacrificed credibility. Beyond that, the Moroccan landscapes were truly beautiful to watch and one of the main reasons why this needs to be seen on the big screen. Of course, fine cinematography is almost a given for Link, as we know from her earlier works as well. So yeah, "Exit Marrakech" is very much worth a watch.