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Young Ahmed
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The Dardenne brothers have chosen the darkest option offered by the legacy of Robert Bresson’s severe storytelling style: instead of compelling us to gaze upon and understand someone who is depressed, or trying to escape some psychological/physical prison, their post-Bressonian anti-heroes (such as Rosetta, 1999) are silently bent on a plan of revenge, retribution or self-improvement at all costs. They lack a moral perspective, a sense of any reality outside their own immediate actions. Such is the case with prepubescent Ahmed (Idir Ben Addi). When the story begins, he has already been turned toward a radical path of Islamic fundamentalism by an imam, shunning the “impurity” of women and other temptations of a secular world. Ahmed meticulously plans to murder his female teacher, Inès (Myriem Akheddiou) – and suffers as a result. What can possibly break Ahmed’s tunnel vision, and connect him empathetically to the bodies and minds of others around him? It is intriguing to watch how the Dardennes treat this topical situation that has been taken up, in various ways and in different styles, by Bruno Dumont in Hadjewjich (2009), and by the absorbing Swedish TV series, Caliphate (2020). Using their signature means – a handheld, ever-mobile camera, simple lighting, no music score, naturalistic acting – the Dardennes once more plunge us into a disquieting personal obsession that resonates with our crisis-ridden world. They guide us along a hard path until we able to reach a moment of possible redemption. MORE Dardenne brothers: Lorna's Silence © Adrian Martin 20 August 2019 / 7 February 2024 |
