Mimosas (2016)

Director: Oliver Laxe
Writers: Santiago Fillol, Oliver Laxe
Stars: Ahmed Hammoud, Shakib Ben Omar, Said Aagli

A caravan escorts an elderly and dying Sheikh through the Moroccan Atlas. His last wish is to be buried with his close ones. But death does not wait. The caravaners, fearful of the mountain, refuse to continue transporting the corpse. Saïd and Ahmed, two rogues traveling with the caravan, say they know the way and promise to take the corpse to its destiny. In another world, Shakib is chosen to travel to the mountains with a mission: to help the improvised caravaners.

… In some respects you could say not a great deal happens, at least not conventionally, in Oliver Laxe's film, (it's only his second), and yet this is so much more than a beautifully photographed travelogue, (Laxe shot the film on location mostly in the Atlas mountains). There is an almost profound sense of both joy and sadness in the relationship that develops between the three men and their strange cargo as well as genuine sense of mystery, (many events are left unexplained). Laxe also gets wonderful performances from Ahmed Hammoud as the man who agrees to take the body in the first place and from Shakib Ben Omar as the little runt who proves to have a lot more going for him than meets the eye, (neither men are professional actors though Shakib did appear in Laxe's first film). There are also scenes here of such pure physicality that they almost rival those in "Aguirre, Wrath of God". I have yet to see Laxe's earlier "You are all Captains" but "Mimosas" certainly heralds the arrival of a major player in world cinema.

More in My Blog