El-haimoune

I love the setting of a ruined secluded oasis and mysterious wanderers and other minor magic realist scenes connected to it. But in the end it doesn't go anywhere interesting and takes complete downhill turn after the officer character shows up.

A mildly pleasing low key magical-realist film that illustrates well the down-to-earth manner in which mystical beliefs are present in societies that hold them. Not everyone can be an ecstatic ascetic, and it's likely that in ancient societies, where myth predominated, religious practices and the arts were engaged in with as much reverance as most nowadays watch television. An odd colour palette and some curious tinting decisions create a lush but unsuccessful desert aesthetic.

Fascinating and beautiful film; unfortunately for me the movie takes a wander itself near the end and kind of peters out. I'm eager to rewatch this, however, and also check out the rest of Khemir's films.

First part of the Desert Trilogy by Nacer Khemir. Surprisingly ugly movie at times given the great locations we get to see, the color temperature varies a lot and shots with markedly different lighting are mixed together within the same scene, which is very distracting. Another distracting thing is the continuous sound of wind blowing, even inside houses. I guess all of this shows how hard it is to make a technically well made film at such locations.