Wordiezett So much average

Steineded How sad is this?

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Anoushka Slater While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

filmalamosa The person who wrote that this is a fairy tale was right.An older man helps an adolescent come of age.This is basically a beautifully crafted movie. I think the story would have worked better if Moises had been a shyer introverted kid instead of a semi street smart hooker-hiring Ferris Bueler's day off type making dance moves. This film is obviously a fairy tale primarily aimed at 50 something men who might have been about 14 in 1960 creating a nostalgic fantasy for them. Why are the French so into that? I lived in French North Africa during the first half of the 1960s...and I was 8 to 14 at the time....I identified with the vintage cars a lot more than with the not too smart would be hood who was the hero.One script flaw...Albania was a rigid closed Maoist society in those days...they could not possibly have driven through it on the way to Turkey.Still I enjoyed the movie despite having my jaw semi clenched through a lot of it--I generally hate coming of age movies--personal thing. Everyone wishes they had a mentor like Shariff. However his litany of little clichés of wisdom reminded me of ones you see in B grade oriental movies. They were only bearable because Shariff is a great actor in the hands of anyone else they would have been a lightening rod for ire. "You lose everything you keep" "If you want to know something talk to someone don't read a book". Yawn...Yes go ahead and rent the movie overlook the pearls of wisdom by looking at Shariffs face or tweak them a little.... there are so many worse films out there.

bandw The setting is a lower-class Jewish neighborhood in Paris in the 1960s. The story revolves around the relationship between Moses (Pierre Boulanger), a teenage Jewish boy, and Ibrahim Denejia (Omar Sharif), a neighboring Sufi grocer. Ibrahim is referred to as "The Arab" by the locals, even though he is Turkish. Moses (called Momo) has had a difficult childhood--his mother abandoned him and his father is remote and finally deserts him as well. So, Momo is in need of some caring adult, and that is where Ibrahim comes in. The gradual affection between the two is played nicely with Ibrahim ultimately adopting Momo.This is coming of age story for Momo. One thing that sets it apart is the religious element, since Ibrahim is a Muslim and Momo is a Jew. However, from what we see Momo is a Jew by birth only since his religion does not appear to play a role is his life. Ibrahim often talks of "his Koran" as containing all the knowledge he needs; he dispenses some gentle philosophy as the film progresses. Clearly it is the intent to show that affection and love can surmount cultural and religious differences and the movie generally succeeds in that.The soundtrack has a lot popular music from the 1960s (and even some from the 1950s like "Rock Around the Clock.") The dance fad "The Madison" from the 1950s and 1960s also plays a part as we see Momo's girlfriend teaching it to him. The music does liven things up a bit in a movie that can be slow.The last third of the movie stretches belief which is too bad since a more powerful effect could have been had by playing it straight. Beyond being unbelievable, there is a scene that did not make sense to me where Ibrahim temporarily abandons Momo in Turkey, a strange country with a strange language for him. The last third of the movie does contain some beautiful scenery in Turkey.It is the performances of Sharif and Boulanger that make this worth watching. Sharif's performance is that of an actor who identifies with the role to the point that you are not aware of him as an actor, but rather as Ibrahim. Boulanger has a winning screen presence--for his first time out he is remarkably relaxed and believable.

Ahmed Khaled Great movie, but the big question here is: Is it legal to involve the kid protagonist in a relatively sexually explicit scene with Anne Suarez ?.. In Exorcist, there was a body double for Linda Blair in her explicit scenes, but there is no such thing here. As regards the movie, I feel it is the same tune of Zorpa the Greek played in another form. Being Muslim, I think the script writer knows nothing about Quran and Islam. Omar Sheriff talks more like a Buddhist monk than a Muslim Sheikh. However, such errors don't deny the great beauty and the great tolerance message delivered by the movie. It gives U enough time to think and meditate.

Suhasini I have one very general criticism of this movie. I'm just going to try and kind of argue it out as I write. Well, the style of the movie is quite light-hearted. But it also deals with quite serious subject matter. It has its funny, sad and touching moments but never has them in the extreme: poignant, hilarious or tragic moments. But, I hear you say, Momo's father leaving, is pretty tragic. So is Momo disowning his mother and Paul not being real and Ibrahim dying. I agree, they are very tragic, but none of them (except perhaps the latter) is made to really jerk the tears out of an audience. That is not their purpose in the film. Now, I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing at all: to have a light-hearted style for serious content. In fact, it's quite refreshing and matter of fact that way. And the film, I think, successfully uses this style. Except for one thing. All this serious stuff they deal with, it's just the background to the story. The real story is the friendship/ relationship between Ibrahim and Momo, and in the process all these additional strands of the story, which each could have easily become the main one, get kind of glossed over. Told quickly, without depth. And so in the process I find, that no story gets told very deeply at all. The real point is made yes, and in a subtle way, but we're still left (or I am left) with a few questions and a wee bit of emptiness. For example, I really wanted to know what Momo thought about Paul's apparent non-existence. But, it is never mentioned again in the film. We are just left to fathom out who was lying, as Momo is, but we don't get any feedback on what was a pretty important...thing (couldn't think of a word) in his life. I actually really liked this film, but the more I think about it, the more I find this fault bothering me. That nothing is explored to it's fullest. Even the build up of Ibrahim's and Momo's relationship is kind of rushed. And their trip to Turkey doesn't add all that much to the film. I appreciate the fact that this may be the director's strategy. On some days, the uneventful-ness of Blue Street is captured really well. But the trip to Turkey is kind of like a bunch of tourist shots. Well, I said I'd argue myself out. And I think I certainly went round in a few circles there. But, my main point was: I don't think so many seemingly momentous/dramatic events in Momo's life should have been put in, if they were going to be unexplored and redundant.