Raouf Ben Amor Movies
- 2006
The bright future of a beautiful young bride grows increasingly clouded the dissatisfaction of her marriage drives her to addiction and insanity in director Selma Baccar's bleak period drama. The time is the 1930s, and as the Tunisian upper crust thrives ethereal bride Zakia (Rabia Ben Abdallah) lovingly exchanges vows with the wealthy Si Mokhtar (Raouf Ben Amor). Their marriage quickly hits the skids, however, when it becomes glaringly obvious that Si favors the sexual intimacy of his male servant Jaafar (Mohamed-Ali Ben Jemaa) over the wife who longs to bear his child. Though her matriarchal mother-in-law (Halima Daoud) offers little solace to the long-suffering Zakia, a glimmer of hope shines through when the neglected wife eventually does become pregnant. When the delivery proves especially taxing and doctors offer Zakia a powerful poppy tea, what should have been the happiest moment in the new mother's life becomes a disastrous catalyst for a grim downward spiral. Subsequently addicted to opium, Zakia begins to neglect everything in her life - including daughter Meriem (Hend Fahem) - in pursuit of her growing addiction. Only after Zakia virtually sells her daughter to a shady suitor with a substantial poppy inheritance does the hopeless addict finally hit rock bottom. As she attempts to weather her difficult withdrawal in an asylum while entering into a curious romance with fellow inmate Khemias (Alaeddine Ayoub), Zakia gradually begins to take stock of her turbulent marriage and make sense of her troubling memories. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rabia Ben Abdallah, Alaa Eddine Ayoub, (more)
- 2002
Nawfel Saheb-Ettaba's understated debut feature, El-Kotbia (The Bookshop), takes place at bookstore, and at the home of the family who owns it. Jamil (Ahmed El-Haffiene) goes to work for Tarek (Yadh Beji), and is given room and board as the store as part of the arrangement. Tarek's wife, Lelia (Hend Sabri), harbors dreams of becoming a professional singer, and is in conflict with her mother-in-law, Aicha (Martine Gafsi). Aicha is flamboyant by nature, leading to speculation from townspeople about the exact nature of her friendship with Jamil. The Bookshop was screened at the 2003 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- Hend Sabri, Ahmed El-Haffiene, (more)
- 1998
Nouri Bouzid wrote and directed this French-Tunisian drama about three Arab women: Divorced mother Aida (Anmel Hedhili), who works as both a university professor and a Tunis taxidriver. Aida lives for the visits of her married lover in Gaza. Her house guest is withdrawn Fatiha (Nadia Kaci), who witnessed the killing of her family in Algeria. Aida has a chance encounter with her former college classmate Amina (Leila Nassim), now a housewife. Amina takes flight from her unhappy marriage by running away to Aida's apartment. Shown at Venice '97 and 1998 film fests (Montpellier, Valencia, Karlovy Vary). ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Amel Hedhili, Nadia Kaci, (more)
Following the disastrous Pirates (1986), director Roman Polanski got back on creative track with this finely-wrought thriller that, while failing to impress at the box office, was nevertheless his most critically well-received film of the decade. Harrison Ford stars as Richard Walker, an American doctor who has come to Paris, where he's scheduled to deliver a paper to a medical conference. Richard has brought along his wife Sondra (Betty Buckley), because Paris was the site of their honeymoon 20 years earlier. Sondra picks up the wrong suitcase at the airport, which leads to her kidnapping and an ever-more complicated quest that takes Richard into the seedy and dangerous underworld of European drug smuggling and terrorist arms sales. Along the way, he is rebuffed by skeptical officials at the American Embassy and meets Michelle (Emmanuelle Seigner), a sexy courier who agrees to help him in exchange for the money she's owed for trafficking in narcotics. Playing cleverly on American fears about Europe's Byzantine politics and "decadent" society, Frantic received, from many observers, perhaps the greatest compliment possible for a thriller, comparison to the work of Alfred Hitchcock. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Harrison Ford, Emmanuelle Seigner, (more)
- 1986
- PG13
Although the title evokes a swashbuckling adventure, Roman Polanski's Pirates tuns out to be a seagoing tale with a bit of a difference. Captain Red (Walter Matthau) runs a hardy pirate ship with the able assistance of Frog, a dashing young French sailor (Cris Campion). One day Capt. Red is captured and taken aboard a Spanish galleon, but thanks to his inventiveness, he raises the crew to mutiny, takes over the ship, and kidnaps the daughter of the governor of Maracaibo (Charlotte Lewis, soon to co-star in The Golden Child opposite Eddie Murphy). The question is, can he keep this pace up? ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Walter Matthau, Damien Thomas, (more)
- 1980
This is the graduation film of director Werner Masten, a commendable effort at depicting the world of one holocaust survivor, Baranski (Jan Groth). The unassuming man lives a solitary life in an apartment building where he is not necessarily treated with much respect by the people around him. Then one day he runs into the man who abused him during his imprisonment in a concentration camp, a man he had always thought had died in the war. Aside from the effect that this has on him, Baranski tries to cultivate the friendship of a young boy who lives in his apartment building. All told, his post-war life has not been easy. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Raouf Ben Amor
- 1979
- R
Pierre Richard directs and stars in this comedy about a ghost writer employed by a successful comic. He assumes the comic's identity and talks his way into a joint venture with an Italian screen star. The two travel to Tunisia to work on their collaboration and experience romantic and professional comic mishaps. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Pierre Richard, Aldo Maccione, (more)
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