Advertisement

Movies & TV Movies & TV Reviews

Captain Abu Raed

CAPTAIN ABU RAED (Amin Matalqa). 105 minutes. Subtitled. Opens Friday (April 16) at the Royal. See Indie & Rep Film. Rating: NN


Captain Abu Raed is the heartwarming and entirely contrived story of an aging Amman airport janitor (Nadim Sawalha) quietly mourning the death of his beloved wife.[rssbreak]

Returning home one day wearing a discarded captain’s hat, he’s mistaken for a pilot by the impressionable neighbourhood children – so what can he do but oblige them with fanciful stories of journeys to far-off lands?

Produced in 2007 but only now reaching Toronto screens, Amin Matalqa’s melodrama is being touted as the first independent feature produced in Jordan. This is technically true, though the film’s attitude is entirely Western. Jordanian-born Matalqa has lived in the U.S. since he was 13, and attended the American Film Institute.

He’s studied cinema well. Captain Abu Raed is a schmaltzy melodrama in the style of the calculated Oscar bait released by Miramax in the 1990s. It’s one part Kolya (kids bring old man out of his shell) and one part Life Is Beautiful (fantasy is important, and also meaningless self-sacrifice), with Islamist patriarchy as the villain instead of the Nazis.

Advertisement

Exclusive content and events straight to your inbox

Subscribe to our Newsletter

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

By signing up, I agree to receive emails from Now Toronto and to the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.

Recently Posted