HEDI

Tunisia, 2016, 88 minutes, Colour.
Majd Mastpoura, Rym Ben Messaoud, Omnia Ben Ghali.
Directed by Mohamed Ben Attia.

Majd Mastpoura won the Silver Bear for Best Actor at the 2016 Berlinale. He is the star of this rather brief film from Tunisia.

Hedi is the title role, a young man, the dominated by his imperious and pompous mother, compared with his allegedly more successful brother who has found of life, family and job in France. He works for Peugeot and is a salesman, but not having much success in difficult financial times.

And, he is about to get married, his mother controlling the setup with the in-laws, asserting the superiority of her family. The fiancee is an attractive young woman, Hedi looking forward to the marriage but realising that he knows very little about his fiancee excerpt from some furtive meetings and phone calls, and then realising she has very limited vision of what life might be.

Hedi travels to a resort town, visiting various companies without any success, trying to promote car deals, fleet deals. He is more than passive and gives up on his work, preferring to go swimming – but is caught out at the beach by a company phone call and foolishly tries to explain it away to an attractive young woman who is part of an entertainment team at the local hotel.

Hedi is attracted to her, which opens up an attraction beyond that he has for his fiancee. The girl is a free spirit, travels Europe as part of a hospitality team in hotels, performs exuberantly on stage, and the couple find that they like each other very much, enjoy each other’s company.

What would happen – especially when his mother has to explain away his absence to the in-laws (who have problems of their own with the father promising jobs but being exposed as paying bribes) and then go in search of Hedi? Will Hedi capitulate as always and go through with the wedding? Has he found a freedom that he never knew existed? Not hard to anticipate and audiences who like him will be most impressed by his outpouring of his feelings about his mother. And, of course, the film ends leaving us wondering what will happen to Hedi and his future.

We do not see many films from Tunisia – and, while a Muslim country, Tunisia always seemed to be much more relaxed than many other Islamic countries. And we might wonder whether Hedi himself is typical of the man of the country.

1. Tunisia in 2015? Cities and towns, tourist resorts, homes, religious celebrations, the world of business and Peugeot? The musical score?

2. The focus on Hedi, one man, the symbol of Tunisian men, dominated by his mother, the preparations for the marriage, not knowing his fiancee well, his job as a salesman, expectations of him, his not achieving them, a passive man moving to an assertive man, facing realities and freedom, leaving or staying? His future?

3. Hedi and tying the tie, the credits, going to his job, not happy, the meeting, the demands on sales, the boss, not giving him leave for his wedding, his travelling to towns, his sales pitches, unsuccessful, brochures and cards? No joy in his life?

4. The wedding preparations, the two families meeting, his mother and her style, dress, pompous, photos of her son? Her talk about the brother and his career in France?

5. Hedi at home, skyping the brother, his arrival, not bringing his daughter, the mother not liking his wife? The plains, the details of the wedding, the preparations?

6. Hedi travelling, the resort, going from swimming, ignoring the calls, ignoring the phone, answering, hurrying to the shelter, his lies about his mother’s fall? The explanation to Rim? Her performance in the show, the tourists, his detailed explanation to her about his life, her reaction? The bond between them, going out together, swimming, kiss, the sexual encounter, his ignoring all calls, sharing with her, his coming alive?

7. Rim as a person, lively, her work, travelling to hotels, memories of Bologna, the attraction, the explanation, together?

8. The effect on Hedi, the texts, meeting with his fiancee in the car, his discussion with her and her plans for life, not loving her?

9. The meeting, the parents, the arrest of the bride’s father for bribes? His promising jobs? The embarrassment, the mother and the brother going to the resort, finding him, the enormity of his first criticisms of his mother and his life?

10. Telling Rim the truth, her reaction, then changing? Going to collect his clothes, the discussion with his brother and his brother supporting him?

11. At the airport, Rim, his not being able to travel and live with her? Her disappointment? What future?