Exils

Aroview: Possibly dir. Gatlif's most exuberant and personal film yet, this observes a bohemian French couple's journey southwards to their family's respective ancestral roots in Algeria.

As usual this Gatlif finds analogues for this voyage of cultural discovery in a tremendous musical score, which here evolves as events progress from Westernised 'trance' sounds to the ecstatic acoustic religious music of a Sufi 'cleansing' ceremony. Also paying greater attention than usual to landscape, this invigorates a familiar agenda with Mediterranean imagery and a sustained portrait of human passion.

NZ International Film Festival 2005