Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran is a lovely film with great moments and triumphant performances of veteran Omar Sharif and young and promising Pierre Boulanger. In my opinion, what makes this film so important is its simplicity and sincerity. Most of the recent examples of modern French cinema are suffering from flamboyance and Monsieur Ibrahim is an exception. The film delightfully combines a new perspective to love, self identification, and empathy with magnificent acting skills and impressing cinematography. As a Buddhist myself, I've always found Safi ways interesting and this film presents a brief summary of this way of belief besides the touchy 'journey' theme. Religious motives are humanistic and the director carefully avoids any kind of religious propaganda. Instead, the audience watches the journeys of two men, from different ages and different cultural backgrounds. Ibrahim and Moses meet in Blue Rue which is a chaotic place for a 16 old boy to be. Both has a lot to teach each other and share. Abandoned and broken hearted Moses searches a way out through his teenage life full of growing pains, whereas Ibrahim, the immigrant who fell apart from his country searches a way out with the guidance of his beliefs and longings. Dialogues between Moses and Ibrahim are mind nourishing. Side characters are also memorable regarding Anne Suarez's performance as Sylvie and Lola Naymark's performance as Myriam that are truly remarkable.
Review of Monsieur Ibrahim
