Le jeune Ahmed

Would’ve liked more of the “why” - I got a sense of Ahmed’s father as a strong motivator for him, but I wanted to be sold more on how this outlet has seduced him and why his brother seemed so quick to jump ship. Not the first time the Dardennes have kept us at a distance while at once observing as close as cinema can get without providing internal monologue. I’m still smitten with the duality of this aesthetic. Also - the glasses scene. My heart hasn’t fluttered so in quite some time

like THE SON, a spiritual parable about the crossroads between sin and grace, beginning after a mysterious inciting incident and ending with thwarted violence. many reasons one is a masterpiece and the other a failure, but i'll cite the climaxes: one unresolved/disturbing but tentatively gesturing in a new direction, the other an unambiguous laughable blend of accidental convenience and catholic portent. the body breaks to release the soul, he cries for the mum he shunned earlier. it's too easy.

Another solid Dardennes docustyle drama but i mostly just wanted to kick the kid's ass

This is certainly a thought provoking watch. I expected things to go a certain way and was surprised that the plot took a different turn... its a sobering and thoughtful watch but I don't think I can say much more. A thoughtful drama about an adolescent French muslim who gets in trouble, this is worth a watch, yes.

dardennelerin yine belcikanın dertsiz tasasız yasamında bari göçmen dertlerini anlatalım dediği sade filmi. ahmeti cok guzel oynamış cocuk film bitene kadar küfür ettim cocuga o kadar güzel oyunculuk bravo.

While Ahmed's inability to live with impurity of any kind in his midst and the single-minded way he seems unable to see things from someone else's point of view reminds me of lots of people (religious, political) these days, the film's real value is in the subtle ways it displays how someone might be drawn away from such a narrow, death-dealing life: good mentors who care about the person and model good interactions, physical activity side by side with others--activities of real relationship.

Deliberately paced (maybe even meandering) portrait of young Ahmed may have been even better if we had a better grip on what so suddenly (and stubbornly) turned this "normal" boy into a brutally austere fundamentalist (what was he like a month ago before "the posters came down"?) Missing this element of the character makes it somewhat difficult at first to become engaged, but the fine performances (and a stunning third act from "the glasses" onwards) do give this tale a haunting resonance.

On other recent movies of the Dardenne brothers there's a usual distinction between a very harsh real life story of a relevant topic, specially on europe, followed by a purely fictitious solution, fiction as something very romantic, and also very romantic about mankind. Here, on the other hand, there's almost only reality. Louise is a temptation that invites Ahmed into the love of what his belief condemns. The end is almost like saying that they couldn't find hope in extremism.

26. Adana Film Festivali.

Adana Altın Koza Film Festivali

Excellent writing as usual from the Dardennes. Simple, logical but unexpected. The scene with the glasses is one of the best romantic texts I've seen in a long time. The resolution is very clever and no-nonsense.