Ali, The Goat and Ibrahim - we Mea'za Ali Ibrahim Directed by Sherif El Bendary
Ali, The Goat and Ibrahim - we Mea'za Ali Ibrahim
Directed by Sherif El Bendary
Starrings: Ali Sobhi, Ahmed Magdy
Country: Egypt, France, UAE, Qatar
Year: 2016
Author Review: Roberto Matteucci
Click Here for Italian Version
“She could become your best friend.”
Egypt has passed through hard times, both politically and economically. It happened with the conclusion of the Egyptian Arab Spring. The ambiguous demonstrations and unrests finish with the same type of government, just with different politicians.
The location of the film, Ali, The Goat and Ibrahim, directed by Sherif El Bendary, is Egypt in its entirety. It is a road movie through the so-called three seas of the country: Alexandria and the Mediterranean, Sinai and the Red Sea and Cairo and the Nile. Obviously, the last is not a sea but it is so considered by the Egyptians.
Realized with the funding of Biennale Cinema of Venice, it was presented at Venice Film Festival in 2015, just for Industry selection. It has the official passage to the 13° Dubai Film Festival.
The protagonist is Nada, a pretty and peaceful goat. The director narrates about the eccentric casting: “I saw more than 2000 goats to find Nada.” (1) And it was the right choice.
The film begins with a close-up of a large pink teddy bear. It is on Ali's shoulders, a bizarre and cheerful boy. Ali, together with some friends, gets into an old and colourful car.
Police blocked them, for a meticulous drug examination. A mischievous officer starts skinning with a dagger the poor teddy bear; he suspected the presence of drugs in its inside. The cruelty against the puppet leaves everyone stunned: "Why teddy bears were banned after the revolution?"
The cute teddy bear was innocent, it was just Ali's gift for his girlfriend Nada, it was her birthday. However, there is a small problem, Nada is a goat.
Ali loves a goat! He keeps her at home, he cuddles her, they sleep together, and talks with her, maybe they do more, but nobody knows. This relationship creates a lot of derision and quarrels with his mother. The street rascal mock him, the friends make fun of him, but Ali does not change idea: his girlfriend is Nada the goat.
Ibrahim lives in the same neighbourhood. He is a sound engineer, and he has a personal disturbing difficulty. He has a hypersensitivity to the reception of noise, which causes him painful reactions such collapses, shock, panic. He stays with his deaf-mute grandfather, they communicate with sign language.
The two guys meet in a sorcerer's house, who gives them the same weird prescription: three stones to throw in the three seas of Egypt.
The road movie begins when they leave, obviously, with the goat.
On the way, they have many dramatic and comic events, as when Ibrahim left a letter with the intention to commit suicide. He gives up and when Ali, agitated, sees him alive and well while eating quietly he insults him.
They do not believe in the prophecy of the magician, but Ibrahim reminds Ali to correct dimension:
"How can you call absurd the story of the stones if you say that you are engaged to a goat?" and they will throw all three stones.
The end is surreal, but with a reliable and secure message: "We are all animals."
In their lives the two guys had very sad death episodes: Ibrahim's mother killed herself, the Ali’s girlfriend died after falling. The slight irony of the characters has a bitter aftertaste.
Ali loves the goat because he met her the day his girlfriend passed away, in fact, she has the same name.
Egypt trip is beautiful. The photography is clear and bright like the two solar protagonists. Light is a fundamental element of the shots. The frame is filled with few human beings or things and appears drawn lines, interrupted by the boys in inelegant poses and by the omnipresent sweet goat.
They wait under a mountain, there is a tree to their left. On the side of the road, there are Ibrahim and Ali and, in the middle, the angelic animal. The lights are intense, objects and people enhance the features of their lines.
The director is smart, showing the bitter taste behind laughing, smiling, sarcastic story.
How can an ordinary handsome young man love a goat? But why should we not believe him? Similarly, how can we doubt Ibrahim of his lonely perception of a particular sound? How can we deny it?
So, Sherif El Bendary focuses all the attention on the goat, creating joy and, at the same time, sadness.
The author follows the goat. When she lost herself, she always finds them. The goat - the fate - saves them from a terrible crash car and give them the strength to come back home:
"Nada is in our hearts."
The two actors are brilliant.
Ahmed Magdy is concise and obscure in the role of receiving distant voices. Present in DIFF also in the film Mawlana – The Preacher.
Ali Sobhy is wonderful in showing his love for Nada goat. It is an arduous role; therefore, he was cast from the street artist. He is a real acrobat in the gestures, in the grimaces, in the chatting, in being menaced, beat, but, mostly, sincere in the relationship with the animal. He is jealous, so Ibrahim must not undress in front of the goat.
It is funny the motivation to choose Ali Soghy: “I was looking for someone who looks like a goat. With his narrow face and goatee, Sobhy fits the bill.” (1) Ali Sobhy looks like a goat? Yes, he does.
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