I'm not sure that's how it works
Continuing my trip up The Guardian's Top 50 Movies of 2020...
#46 : The Perfect Candidate
The fourth feature by Wadjda director Haifaa al-Mansour sees the Saudi film-maker return home for a politically inflected drama that interrogates the country’s supposed new liberalism, following a female doctor’s attempt to run for office after she is denied a permit to travel abroad.
And we're back to films I've never heard of - this appears to be the second in a series of "women vs the establishment" films (and I have a sneaking suspicion it won't be the last). Reading the description, I think this is the first film there would have been no chance of me watching voluntarily, but I'm expecting it to be culturally interesting, if not necessarily entirely comprehensible from my somewhat Western viewpoint.
Basically Maryam is a female doctor who works at what you would probably describe as an extremely crappy hospital (for starters, it doesn't actually have a road, so wheelchairs have to be pushed through a small swamp) dealing with male patients and colleagues whose interpersonal skills could do with work. She lives with her dad and two sisters, or at least she does until he decides to sod off for three weeks leaving them alone and telling them to lock the door - which coincides with her wanting to leave the country, but she can't do so because her travel permit has expired and he's not around to give his permission for her to get it renewed.
A slightly convoluted mechanism results in her standing for the municipal council - and the general vibe you get is that things are not going to end well. And, similar to the previous film, it both does and doesn't but, unlike the previous film, you find yourself thoroughly engaging with what happens and the ending manages to be surprisingly emotional and hopeful. There's also a lovely cinematic bit at the end and it must have taken an amazing amount of co-ordination for something that most people won't even notice (either that or it's a massive coincidence!).
It's well acted, with natural performances - checking the cast out on IMDB most of them have only been in this one film, so the director has done well with them (although I have the suspicion the dad was picked more for his musical skills than his acting ability). I could have done without the constant musical interludes (maybe they were required for the film's core audience) but having said that, the musical side plot was interesting around the creation of a new national band (which was apparently a big step) with an armed guard being required because "you know some radicals don't like music".
It's also well written with Maryam being an excellent lead character - a great mix of innocence and determination, just wanting to get on in the world and improve things for everyone, but having to fight every step of the way to do so. Her sisters are also interesting supporting characters - admiring her persistence, supporting her grudgingly and dreading the outcome all at the same time. And her dad's story is also interesting, despite his somewhat less than stellar acting abilities,
The cultural depiction is quite interesting - I have no way of knowing whether it's accurate (although I'm assuming it can't be way off given the reviews the film has had) so I have to take it at face value and it just seems very alien to me. The men are generally shown as pleasant enough and often not an active part of the system, but they still very much passively accept it (and why wouldn't they, some might argue). But, the women work the system as much as they can - i found the burqa fashion show quite interesting with its Henry T Ford colour scheme. But there's only so far they can go - "Can I count on your vote?" "My husband will kill me, but I'll see what he says". It would be easy for me to criticise, but it's better for me to say I really don't know enough about the whole situation and the film was at least allowed to be made, so I guess things could be worse. However, I would have to say that a system that allows women to stand for election but doesn't allow them to address male voters directly does seem to be more than a little unfair.
As I said previously, there wouldn't have been the slightest chance of me watching this film normally but it's well written and acted and I found it considerably more engaging, educational and enjoyable than I was expecting. It won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I'm glad I was made to watch it.
At the time of writing, this film is available on Amazon Prime and there are plenty of things out there which are far more of a waste of your time.
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