Search - Bab El-Oued City on DVD

Flawed but worthwhile portrait of a society in change

K. Gordon | 07/16/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Interesting and informative, if not deeply emotionally gripping. A
portrait of the rise of local thuggish Islamic fundamentalists in
Algeria, and their conflict with a moderate baker who steals their
blaring speaker so he can sleep.

With a few exceptions the characters aren't very deep and are confined
to archetypes, although the ending twist is interesting. That said,
this grew on me a bit on a 2nd viewing. While the acting still often
seemed amateurish, there was more emotion, and more a sense of a film
with historical import; an attempt to capture and understand a moment
in time when everything in a society is changing."

Fun, engaging film about Algeria, Islamism, corrupt authorit

J. Iskander | Atlanta, United States | 08/23/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Great depiction of Algeria at the tipping point between the riots of 1988 that forced a crisis and change to more open system on the one hand and the rise of the Islamist parties and the outbreak of a civil war on the other. This civil war in part breaks out upon the return of Algerians who had gone to Afghanistan to fight in the jihad there, and this shows up in the film.
You see how corrupt the government was, how enmeshed it was in the black market it supposedly was fighting, but also fighting the Islamists and supporting them at the same time. Hugh Roberts argues that this is because the govt itself was split into very different camps that had different agendas.
But the film is much better than a documentary. The story is interesting, the acting mostly very convincing. The rai music throughout the film is really good. This is a very enjoyable and informative film."