"Wadjda" (2013)

Regardless of its quality, we'd be talking about Wadjda: the first film produced in Saudi Arabia, a country notorious for its total lack of infrastructure to support a film industry, and not only that but it was secretively written and directed by a woman, Haifaa Al-Mansour, making it all the more remarkable for a country that's deeply restrictive of women's rights. So thankfully, not only is it a remarkable film but also a remarkably good one as well. The film's plot is deceptively simple: a young girl Wadjda (Waad Mohammed) wants to buy a bike and she tries to find ways to buy that bike. In its charming, neo-realist simplicity is a disarmingly sweet and poignant tale of a young tomboyish girl who doesn't measure up to society's expectations of what a woman should be. This is a pleasingly feminist film that quietly draws into question the double standards and sexism of Saudi Arabian society. Wadjda's father is a deadbeat who's rarely around, and he seems to be haughtily displeased of having a daughter ("Give me a son," he yells at his wife, who is incapable of pleasing him). Wadjda goes to school and her teachers and principal reprimand her for simply being the funny, free spirited, highly individualistic person she is. Everyone gets angry for her desire for a bike, even her mother. They tell her that girls just don't ride bikes. It's something for boys. Wadjda is hindered by being different, but even more simply by virtue of being born a female. It frustrates us, but it annoys us because it is honest and accurate. The gender expectations are specific to Saudi and Islamic society, and they are never one-sided. Some of the film's finest moments understand how gender policing is frequently most harshly performed by members of the same gender. Women get upset with Wadjda, and we wonder, sometimes even see it in their body language, if they once had similar aspirations to Wadjda. They may have and gave them up due to society's expectations. But for now Wadjda doesn't quite fully comprehend the cultural norms she's been born into. All she wants is a bike, and for no greater reason than because she is young and riding a bike seems like it's fun. She's determined, and her determination makes us hopeful.

Grade: ★★★★