Lara Oude Alink
The movie displays the differences between the social groups of the two main characters, Susanne and Soukri, very clearly. Maybe even a bit stereotypical in the ways they are dressed, the places they live in and the way they speak. However, it does highlight these differences in a time where they are, in fact, very close to reality. It shows the high class's 'ennui' in Susanne, who does make an effort to help Soukri, but her ultimate motive is unclear. It is because she honestly want to help HIM specifically, or is she simply bored with her surroundings and tries to make a contribution regardless of what it is? There is also some tension between her and the much younger Soukri, blurring the lines even more. This grey area makes her, in my opinion, the most interesting character. On the other hand, there is Soukri's family, trying to make a living for themselves in different ways. Of course there is the traditional father who wants his son to continue his business and the son who wants to choose his own life. This part of the movie was less convincing to me, but the characters do seem believable in that they really care for each other, but have different ways to show it. The conflicting backgrounds of the shown social groups make Susanne's plan infinitely more difficult to realise than she had initially thought. This is the main point of the movie and I found it very convincing and realistic, not trying to go the fairy tale route of perfect acceptance and tolerance. The least convincing part of the story was definitely the romance between Susanne's daughter and Soukri. It sort of falls out of nowhere, and the daughter is extremely bland, speaking and living only in stereotypes. I found these parts boring to sit through, which is a shame because the many different motives and backgrounds of the many characters do make for an otherwise compelling story.
