MUCH LOVED

Morocco, 2015, 104 minutes, Colour.
Loubna Abidar, Asmaa Lazrak.
Directed by Nabil Ayouch.

This is a fiction, with elements of documentary about a group of prostitutes in Marrakesh. It is directed by Nabil Ayouch, born in France but living in Casablanca, contributing to Moroccan filmmaking and perspectives on Moroccan life.

The film was screened in Cannes and won a number of awards around the world.

The first part of the film shows the women, living in a commune, driven by their chauffeur, getting ready for their work, their dress (and getting a meal), the woman supervising them at the club. There is a great amount of detail of the women, their interactions with the men, a focus on the men and their attitudes, behaviour, local men and with some comments about men from Saudi Arabia.

After this introduction, the film moves back to the house, and begins to outline the characters, the backgrounds of their lives, their attitudes towards their work, money and survival. One woman goes back to her home, criticised by her mother, ignored by her daughter. Another has a friend with whom she has physical relationships, perhaps loving him, he more than a touch brutal as well. Another is transgender. When one of the women is brutally bashed, they go to the doctor, encountering another young woman who claims she is there because she is pregnant. However, her back life is outlined, escape from the village, living on the streets. She is welcomed as part of the group.

The film continues with various experiences of women, the way they are treated by men, the presumptions of the men that they are merely playthings or women who can be treated at whim, and violently. This is the case with one man who has gay porn on his computer, seems impotent in his encounters, becomes brutal, taunts the prostitute defending himself.

Ultimately, the women decide to go on a holiday, taking their chauffeur and dressing him up, going to a fashionable hotel and resort, enjoying their time on the beach.

The film is non-judgemental about the women, depicting the realities of women who have to make a decision to spend their lives as prostitutes. The film is judgemental about the men that they service.

For non-Moroccan audiences, for audiences from non--Islamic countries, this film may be an eye-opener about sexual mores.