The Source

I don't know what I'm voting on. Lysistrada by Aristophenes was much wittier, but the point of this movie is not wit.

Perhaps I'm voting on the wonder that it was made at all. We in the west have a very different view of what Muslim countries should produce given our media.

This film does not fit into that category. None that I've seen do. None proclaim death to the west. None want to commit murder in the hope of getting multiple virgins as a reward.

None do anything but examine daily life. What was set in Toronto Canada. A second was set in the middle east on the Israeli Lebonon border, a third was made in New York and now this one from North Africa. All of them were gentle films that made comments about the human condition.

And all including this one were well worth seeing. The film is a little long and the music is an acquired taste, but be patient. It will reward a patient viewer.

In a remote and primitive patriarchal village between the North of Africa and the Middle East, the land has dried and the women traditionally brings water from a distant fountain to their houses while the idle husbands drink tea in the bar.

The educated Leïla (Leila Bekhti), who is the wife of the local teacher Sami (Saleh Bakri), begins a sex strike movement among the women, supported by the elder Vieux Fusil (meaning old flintlock) (Biyouna), to force the men to bring water to the village. There is a strong reaction from the brutal men, but they resist until the brave women achieve their goal.

"La Source des Femmes" is another brilliant film by Radu Mihaileanu about a group of women of courage that are capable to protest against the status quo of their village through sex strike.

Like other films of this magnificent director, the story is a combination of drama and comedy in precise doses to make the viewer think, and exposes the situation of women not only in Muslin countries but also in poor worldwide areas where ignorance still prevails.

The beauty of the actresses is impressive specially Leïla Bekhti and Hafsia Herzi. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "A Fonte das Mulheres" ("The Women's Fountain")

A brilliant, delicate, delicious & poetic movie. The music (composed by Armand Amar) is superb. Radu Mihaileanu knows to picture the tragedy with a big touch of love and hope. The movie denounces the injustices that live the majority of women in the Arab countries, with a touch of beauty and comedy. Radu Mihaileanu shows us that to change the reality without violence is still possible in this violence world. Another jewel from this amazing director who surprised us in the past with incredibly beautiful and powerful movies such as "Train the vie" (1998), "Va, vis et deviens" (2005) and "Le concert" (2009). Antonia Tejeda Barros (Madrid, Spain).

In a North African village, the women has a mission. They fetch water from a source in the mountain, while the men have tea. It's desert heat, the barrels are heavy and miscarriages appear on the mountain. The men only care, if the child was a boy.

So the women start a sex strike. Sounds like a comedy, which it's also in some ways are. But at the same time, you here have a perfect opportunity to get rid of lots of prejudices. Passions, conflicts and longing are the same. Only the culture is different.

You find deep religiosity at the same time. This is certainly not mainstream, but entertaining in a deep way until the last drop of water.

Finally, a movie dares to speak about the unspoken, about the reality behind the so-called "freedom of worship"; finally, someone has the guts to denounce the unbearable situation of women in those regions, or even in our regions because of the laxity of our democracies, ready to flout human rights in the name of a would-be tolerance! This cannot stand any more: voices have to raise, the tables have to be thumped, the headscarfs have to fall. Women aren't objects, and this movie reminds us of it well. It is time for them to get back their dignity, to take control of their lives, to become the equal of men. The movie succeeds to combine the seriousness of this situation with some touches of humor, bringing us back to the absurdity of men behaviour whose anxiety, frustration and lack of confidence in themselves led to the destruction of many women who just wanted to live.