Young Ahmed

While the main character could have a used a bit more character development, once we know his goal and his different attempts the suspense becomes riveting.

Knowing quite well the events in France and Belgium of the past year I'd say that the film is a strong realistic representation of fanatism in a miniature setting.

The Dardenne brothers have once again produced a film that is both simple and powerful.

As the title suggests, this is the story of young Ahmed, a pre-teen who becomes totally involved in Islamism under the influence of an imam who recruits people to kill those who don't think like the Islamists. The film is interesting because it shows how the imam goes about indoctrinating him. The film is interesting because it shows how the imam goes about indoctrinating him, which will disturb, interrogate and question those around him: his school teacher, his family.

The great quality of the film is its script and staging: the story is told through the staging and what we see, i.e. Not through dialogues, intertitles or voice-overs, but through the behavior of the characters, particularly the young man. It's an impressive feat of realism and simplicity, giving every second of the film a sense of tension, a seemingly inescapable race to the finish. As the viewer is constantly from the young man's point of view, but not in his head, he discovers and understands what he is doing with a slight delay. And of course, the Dardennes exclude music from the staging: the film contains none. There's no bias to make us understand or dramatize what we're watching. A kind of empirical method.

Simple, powerful cinema. Prix de la Mise en Scène at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. It seems obvious.

I don't really understand why this brilliant film was seen by critics as a minor piece of work by the brilliant two time Palm D'or winning Dardenne brothers. I was hooked throughout. Their last two films, The Unknown Girl and Two days, one night were almost universally seen as amongst their best work. Whilst I enjoyed both of those films, they didn't hit me emotionally like others Dardenne films, such as the kid with a bike or L'enfant. Young Ahmed did. Young Ahmed - superbly played by Olivier Bonnaud - is clearly a complex character caught in the middle between Western norms and his interpretation of Allah. He's certainly been led astray by the most fundamentalist of interpretations of the Quran, but you never quite know if he's playing the game, or is genuinely sorrowful for his actions. And the result is a quietly disquieting portrayal of what, for him, is right and wrong, loyal and disloyal, life and death. And, as is oft the case with the Dardennes, there's no obvious answers. A return to form from my go to European auteurs. 8 and a half out of ten.

Le Jeune Ahmed is not just another movie about radicalism, misogyny, or going down the wrong path. As in life, the reality is far more complex and the Dardenne brothers understand that deeply. They are masters at portraying subtle, everyday life; not overly dramatic, but rich in nuance and emotional truth.

It's no different here. The film begins with the deeply unsettling unraveling of a boy who believes he must hate his teacher. Brainwashed by his imam, he follows a path of destruction. Yet when he's caught and placed under the care of the state, a shift begins. Removed from his known environment, he's sent to work on a farm, where he meets a girl his own age. What begins as a typical "girl-meets-boy" situation takes an unexpected turn: unlike the usual teenage story, Ahmed is torn between the hate he was conditioned into, and the unfamiliar feelings of mutual attraction and connection.

Le Jeune Ahmed is far too subtle and socially engaged to become a simplistic tale of good versus evil. Life isn't simple and this film doesn't pretend it is. This is no Hollywood redemption arc. The Dardenne brothers deliver a beautifully restrained yet emotionally charged drama that lingers long after it ends.

The Dardenne brothers linger, during 80 minutes, to a subject as cleaving as delicate: obscurantism and radicalization. Although the atmosphere is neat, the psychology of the characters is not elaborate enough. Thus, the character of Ahmed interpreted by Idir Ben Addi is definitely not credible: he looks like a harmless kid with a baby face. I can not believe such a child might fool adults so easily. As a matter of fact, the film is essentially based on this character who may then be considered as the keystone of a cinematographic structure. This keystone being defective, the structure collapses! Moreover, the rhythm of the film is a bit sluggish, even if this feeling is possibly due to my global lack of interest for the movie. In short: disappointing! 4/5 of 10.