CASABLANCA BEATS
Morocco, 2021, 101 minutes, Colour.
Anas Basbousi, Ismail Adouab.
Directed by Nabil Ayouch.
Nabil Ayouch (Mekteb, Horses of God) is alerted Moroccan writer-director. He has been writing and directing since the 1990s, helping to contribute to the reputation of Moroccan cinema. And, with the screenplay, he has worked with Marianne Touzani, emerging writer and director (Adam, The Blue Caftan).
This is a story set in a poorer area of Casablanca, a focus on families, but especially a focus on the young, going to school, and for education in music. There is a mixture of young men and women, some of the women play, others not, on headscarves, some not, indication of Muslim freedom in Morocco.
The film focuses on a musician in his 20s, his past reputation, coming to instruct the young people.
For a younger audience, there will be identification with the characters, their backgrounds, their ambitions, their talents, the liveliness, the response to music. But, the main focus of the music in this film is Rap, acknowledgement of the American influences, and a range of sequences where the young people are urged to create their own Rap (and the subtitles translating and parallels with the familiar modes of American Rap). The instructor is very critical of some of the attempts to the surprise of the students. However, they continue to respond well, working hard on their presentations.
A great deal of the central part of the film is the presentation by each of the students, each with the different personalities, bravado, reticence, collaboration, sparring off each other… And some scenes of disapproval from parents and families.
For audiences outside of Morocco, it is an interesting opportunity to learn something about life in Casablanca in the 21st-century, the Muslim traditions but also the opening to the outside world, especially through music and Rap.
For audiences in Morocco, younger audiences, some enthusiasm for developing a more open 21st-century mentality and behaviour.
