I expected too much from « Hassiba », a film I saw at the 20th Arab Film Festival of Fameck. First, because I had never seen any Syrian film before. Second, because I had read its director's declaration of principles: indeed didn't Raymond Boutros (alternative spelling: Rim Butros) write about "Hassiba": "We tried to recreate the environment that matched my perception of the 1930's and 1940's. The film aims to be a true love tale to Damascus, its citizens in general and its women in particular, as well as its rocks, its rivers, its vegetation and its memory, for I consider Damascus a key city in the region"? Third, because I was impressed by the ambition of the script, covering practically all the life story of its central character, spanning at the same time the history of Syria from the 1920's uprising against the French to the first years of its independence in the early 1950's.
As a matter of fact, "Hassiba" does span a long period of time but, for someone like me who is a dunce at Syrian history, the result is disappointing and frustrating. For instance, not a single sequence illustrates the fight against the French occupier: when we first meet Hassiba and her father, they are saying farewell to the other rebels before leaving for Damascus. This historical stub soon gives way to personal conflicts until a few allusions to World War II are exchanged by the protagonists: basically what we learn about it is that the Syrians delight in the fact that France, their arch enemy, finds itself under Hitler's thumb, but that is about all. After this, two characters of the film (Hassiba's father, and later on her son-in-law) join the war in Palestine but against whom, the filmmaker never tells, assuming we viewers all know about it. The last part of the film is set during the first days of independence, and once again, we do not learn much about this period except that the times were troubled. I am afraid this is insufficient for an international audience. Personally, I am willing to learn, not just to guess
As far as Damascus is concerned, the same remark is true. What the viewer is given to see is a patio here, a street end there, plus a few house interiors. This is very far from the intended love tale to Damascus!
But all this comes second to "Hassiba"'s main flaw: Hassiba herself. I expected her to be emblematic of all the women of Syria during the era depicted whereas she is in no way exemplary. What is she supposed to symbolize? First dressed as a boy (Sulaf Fauakherji, a good actress, does it convincingly), Hassiba instantly metamorphoses from seasoned warrior into a blushing bride to be, soon marrying (and not too unwittingly!) a grocer much older than her and who has already been married
five times before! Then we see her helplessly trying to give her husband a son and failing to do it, accepting the punishment as a sanction for having once donned male clothes (not very revolutionary!) The worst thing about her is that she becomes a small-time speculator during the war (rather shameful!) and even a love rival to her daughter in the end. I might as well say as I disliked the character. I did not sympathize with her so much so that not only did her sufferings leave me unconcerned but they even annoyed me. I gradually lost interest in her and, as a result, in the film.
The direction by Boutros does not help matters. The helmer is content to juxtapose scene after scene without any real point of view or artistic approach. Had I not known the film was made in 2007 I would have believed it was filmed in the fifties. The tone, on the other hand, is unashamedly melodramatic and insists too heavily on the misfortunes experienced by the characters. Each time a problem occurs Boutros lets the actors cry, shout and wring their hands without the least restraint.
On the whole, "Hassiba" delivers much less than it promised. I would have liked it the other way round.
