Review of Wadjda (2012) by José Luís A — 15 Jun 2014

Wadjda is a movie portraying the life of a young girl who is actively trying to stand for what she believes and that clearly makes her different from the rest of her schoolmates. The plot is based around the fact that Wadjda has a male friend that she sees around Riyadh on her way to school that owns a bike. Her ultimate desire becomes to own a bicycle to race against her friend. Among all the entrepreneurial activities (both legal and illegal under the school's regulations) she manages to save up some money, until she chooses to join the Qu'ran reading competition which, if she wins, lands her with SR 1000, (the bike only costs SR 800).

It is a simple storyline with a few main characters and is definitely bittersweet in the sense that it shows all the aspects of how Wadjda becomes empowered and tries to get her bicycle at all costs, but at the same time is faced with all these hurdles to face. Meanwhile her mother is faced with her husband possibly getting a second wife. Definitely a touching movie, that is not overdone, or over-acted. The child actors did a wonderful job, considering it was the first time they were in a movie.

This movie gives you an extremely vivid insight into the way of life in Saudi Arabia given all the repression, the strong connection to the Islamic Faith, as well as the role women play in the society and how unfair their relationship is to men. As a person who is currently struggling to learn a tiny bit of Gulf Arabic I have in turn watched this movie 5 times in a row and I still do not get bored watching it. Impecable movie. Definitely worth your time.