Couscous: The Movie

I don't normally mention movies on TTP, but I recently watched an outstanding French film called Couscous (or La Graine et le Mulet) directed by the talented Abdellatif Kechiche, and produced by Claude Berri.

It's the story of Slimane Beiji, an ageing North African immigrant in the southern port French city of Sète, who opens a restaurant on a discarded boat. Hafsia Herzi acts the part of Slimane's step-daughter, and steals every scene she's in...an incredible performance for which she was awarded a Cesar.

To fully appreciate this movie, one needs to be fluent in French since the sub-titles are never accurate...but what a treat! One of the memorable lines in the movie is said by an elderly musician who, when told that Slimane was trying to get the town's permit to open the restaurant, makes the point that provided it's not a mosque, it would be easily granted.

Here's a short review in The Guardian.