Timely playing against the backdrop of Malala Yousafzai
speaking to United Nations, Wadjda takes the story of one girl’s desire to own
a bike and builds a micro and macro study of the gender politics in Saudi
Arabia. Our protagonist is determined to take the path of most resistance with
a mix of defiance and innocence being genuinely unable to understand why her simple
desire causes consternation. The widening of the story to examine other patriarchal
norms - marital expectations and the impact on women’s ability to work without
being allowed to drive – lends a fascinating incite into family life and Saudi
society. Never preaching but always with a message the film cleverly includes the
premise that learning the Koran inside out is a means to an end so as to subvert
its interpreted teachings.
Wadjda is wonderfully and joyously acted throughout and satisfactorily
concludes at a point of both hope and recognition of the distance left to travel.
8/10
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