''Bab'Aziz: '' (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: ''Bab'Aziz: The prince who contemplated his soul''), often abbreviated to ''Bab'Aziz'', is a 2005 film by Tunisian writer and director

Nacer Khemir Nacer Khemir ( ar, ناصر خمير), born in 1948 in Korba, Tunisia, is a Tunisian writer, artist, storyteller, and filmmaker. Biography From an early age, Khemir was fascinated by classical Arabic culture and by storytelling. He has cited th ...

. It stars Parviz Shahinkhou, Maryam Hamid,

Hossein Panahi Hossein Panahi Dezhkooh ( fa, حسین پناهی دژکوه; 28 August 1956 – 4 August 2004) was an Iranian actor and poet. After graduating from high school, due to his father's recommendation, he found his way to Ayatollah Golpaygaani's re ...

, Nessim Khaloul, Mohamed Graïaa, Maryam Mohaid and

Golshifteh Farahani Rahavard Farahani ( fa, رهاورد فراهانی; born 10 July 1983), known professionally as Golshifteh Farahani (), is an Iranian-French actress. She is known for her performances in ''M for Mother'' (2006), '' Body of Lies'' (2008), ''Abo ...

. It was filmed in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

Summary and themes

The film's complex and nonlinear narrative chiefly centers around the journey of a blind

dervish Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh (from fa, درویش, ''Darvīsh'') in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity (''tariqah''), or more narrowly to a religious mendicant, who chose or accepted material poverty. The latter usage i ...

, Bab'Aziz (Parviz Shahinkhou), and his granddaughter, Ishtar (Maryam Hamid), who — while traveling across the desert towards an immense Sufi gathering — encounter several strangers who relate the stories of their own mysterious and spiritual quests. ''Bab'Aziz'' is the third part of Khemir's "Desert Trilogy", which also comprises his 1984 ' ( Wanderers of the desert) and 1991 ' (''The dove's lost necklace''). The three films share structural elements and themes drawn from Islamic mysticism and classical culture, as well as an isolated desert setting. Khemir has said: ''Bab'Aziz'' is particularly concerned with Sufi themes. Khemir has stated that he wished to show, in the film, "an open, tolerant and friendly Islamic culture, full of love and wisdom . . . an Islam that is different from the one depicted by the media in the aftermath of 9/11", and that the unusual structure of the film was a deliberate attempt to imitate the structure of Iranian Sufi visions and dances, aimed at allowing the spectator to "forget about his own ego and to put it aside in order to open up to the reality of the world".

Cast

* Parviz Shahinkhou as Bab'Aziz * Maryam Hamid as Ishtar *

as red dervish * Nessim Khaloul as Zaid * Mohamed Graïaa as Osman *

as Nour * Soren Mehrabiar as dervish

Reception

Box office

''Bab'Aziz'' has grossed $263,447 worldwide.

Critical response

''Bab'Aziz'' received mixed reviews from critics. Review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reports that 58% of 24 critics have given the film a positive review. Boston Globe critic Michael Hardy found fault with Khemir's "well-meaning attempt to correct Western misconceptions of Islam", complaining that the film "is set in the present, but resolutely ignores current events in favor of pervasive nostalgia for the glorious past". However, Matt Zoller Seitz of ''The New York Times'' praised it as "a structurally audacious fairy tale that imparts moral lessons and shows how narratives reflect and shape life". According to The Hollywood Reporter, The Hollywood reporter reviewer Frank Scheck " What 'Bab' Aziz' lacks in narrative clarity it makes up for in visual and musical splendor, and the fact that its co-screenwriter is Tonino Guerra". He added that the movie is better experienced on a big screen.

Bibliography

* Firoozeh Papan-Matin. "Nacer Khemir and the Subject of Beauty in Bab'Aziz: The Prince Who Contemplated His Soul," Cinema Journal
Fall 2012, 52:1
52:1, pp. 107–26.

The Film Sufi, 06/12/201

Plume-noire, Damien Panerai , Access date: 27 May 2022

References

External links

Bab'Aziz: The Prince Who Contemplated His Soul , Typecast Films
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bab'Aziz Tunisian drama films Films about Islam Sufi art 2005 films Iranian multilingual films Iranian drama films Tunisian multilingual films