10 April 2012
Lyes Salem wrote, directed and stars in this whimsically charming comedy about an Algerian young man who is the de facto head of a troubled family deep in the dust-ridden countryside. Nobody treats him seriously, even his wife.
But he does, describing hmself as an agricultural engineer (ie gardener) for the Colonel who commands the scene.
The boy, whose face expresses outrage at his misfortunes in a way reminiscent of Borat, never does anything right and his progress through life is both funny and just a little able to remind us that poverty isn’t all that amusing. We’ll certainly hear more of this outrageous talent.
Mascarades
