Harka
With his dramatic debut, Lotfy Nathan explores the tragedy of modern-day life in Tunisia.
Adam Bessa
Uniquely in my experience we have here a deeply committed film which if it is to be fully appreciated requires the viewer to have knowledge about it which the filmmaker, Lotfy Nathan, does not disclose on screen. Having no outside information when I watched it, I was left to decide for myself what kind of film Harka is. I did know that the film was set in Tunisia and told the story of four siblings, the youngest of whom, Alyssa (Salima Mattoug), is a child who provides the introductory voice over. In a very neat and intriguing pre-credit sequence, Alyssa tells a story about the miraculous overnight appearance of a lake in which people can swim only to discover a few months later that the water is contaminated with poison from a phosphate mine. It's a myth-like tale but one that seems to stand as a comment on a nation of poor people too ready to believe that their lives could be transformed when in fact such change is illusory.
This introduction is followed by the story of the siblings and, despite Alyssa's role as narrator, it quickly becomes clear that the central figure is her brother, Ali (Adam Bessa), who has left home to make a life in the city although the only work that he has found involves selling gasoline on the street. Indeed, unemployment protests are heard in the background. However, kind-hearted Ali's situation is about to get worse. He is summoned back to attend the funeral of his father and it soon becomes clear that he had died with substantial debts which, if not paid off, will lead to repossession of the family’s modest home. Already Ali’s sister, Sarra (Ikbal Harbi), a teenager, is taking on cleaning work to help out and Ali’s older brother, Skander (Khaled Brahem), a married man, has moved away to take a job as a waiter at a seaside resort but is struggling financially himself.
If Harka has the advantage of an excellent lead actor in Adam Bessa, whose portrayal of Ali has won him awards, it can also be said that the subsidiary roles are well cast too and that the writer/director, Lotfy Nathan, here making his narrative feature debut, gives us a film strong on atmosphere that moves well and readily engages us. What comes across is an effective narrative which may suggest a fictional tale but which nevertheless implies that Ali is intended to be seen as a representative figure, one standing for those young Tunisians who are finding life so hard that they are hoping that it might be possible to migrate despite such a step being illegal. We understand this the more readily because the harsh conditions in which families like that of Ali live is apparent, as is also the sense of unrest in the country (the Arab Spring has in the event only led to disappointment) and an awareness of corruption (even Ali himself, lacking the necessary licence to sell gas, has to pay off a policeman in order to continue). This confirms the impression that there is deep truth behind this fiction and the only real surprise is that Nathan himself, an Egyptian American born in the UK, is a concerned outsider rather than a filmmaker commenting on his own country.
Nathan's work here is generally assured although occasionally he too readily relies on dramatic music and late on he twice rather distractingly chooses to intercut footage in a way that breaks with chronology. But these are small points and the only serious limitation here seems to be that we have a narrative which, unlike the best art, follows a wholly predictable path and never surprises us. That Ali finds himself driven to raising money by becoming involved in deals across the border with Libya marks a downward curve that is painful to observe since we are witnessing a good man driven into illegal activity made necessary by his desperate situation.
But, if Harka speaks for Tunisia today, it is also a drama that needs to satisfy in its own right. As such one looks for some touch of hope, but Nathan opts instead for a conclusion that is utterly and completely a cry of despair. What I discovered after seeing the film is that, for all its fictional characters, Harka was inspired by the real life of one man. Had Nathan found a way to make that clear to the viewer, the ending would have carried a weight that justified it but, unless you know that, it makes the film feel too deeply oppressive in its pessimism. For me that counts against it, but it is nevertheless an honourable work and one that finds in Adam Messa an ideal leading player.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Cast: Adam Bessa, Najib Allagui, Salima Maatoug, Ikbal Harbi, Khaled Brahem, Hsouna Heni, Moez Hannachi. Yahya Faidi, Arij Sebai, Monji Ben Said.
Dir Lotfy Nathan, Pro Julie Viez, Alex Hughes, Lotfy Nathan, Riccardo Maddalosso, Eugene Kotlyarenko, Nicole Romano and others, Screenplay Lotfy Nathan, Ph Maximilian Pittner, Art Dir Mohsen Rais, Ed Sophia Corra and Thomas Niles, Music Eli Keszler, Costumes Randa Khedher.
Cinenovo/Kodiak Pictures/Spacemaker Productions/Beachside Films/Anonymous Content-Studio Soho Distribution.
87 mins. France/Tunisia/Luxembourg/Belgium/Germany/USA. 2022. UK Rel: 5 May 2023. Cert. 15.
