Whilst we've seen many movies about the problems that ethnic minorities experience integrating in an adopted country, the experience of France is unusual inasmuch as the main immigrant population is Algerian - a country whose customs and culture are in stark isolation to those of the majority of the French. Whilst the film is flawed with a number of clichés to make it watchable and enjoyable rather than a documentary, it is serious filmmaking drawing attention to an unusual dilemma and quite engrossing.
9 Reviews
Another interpretation of the ending
mjwinter18 February 2006
Warning: Spoilers
As a documentary of the life of an Algerian family in the south of France, it was an interesting study of the lack of assimilation into French society. It was also revelatory as to the hierarchy of roles - a wife is nothing but a mother is everything. One wonders if the boys would have developed along the same lines.
Almost every character seemed to be real, if a little exaggerated. The mother-in-law was superb.
After thinking about the ending, I'm offering the suggestion that the "happy ending" was really a collection of her thoughts as she bled to death, having cut herself on the glass. The same sort of thing happens at the end of the film: Le Cercle Rouge, a classic, made in 1970.
Almost every character seemed to be real, if a little exaggerated. The mother-in-law was superb.
After thinking about the ending, I'm offering the suggestion that the "happy ending" was really a collection of her thoughts as she bled to death, having cut herself on the glass. The same sort of thing happens at the end of the film: Le Cercle Rouge, a classic, made in 1970.
A bit choppy at the end but well done! might contain spoilers
ozoz200023 April 2002
Warning: Spoilers
SF International FF had a showing of this movie last night. I laughed, I cried, I cringed, I loved. It was a good mix of emotions dealing with women's place in society. Definitely worth seeing.
Good acting overall... The bride and the mother-in-law were both great! I especially liked the scene where mother-in-law suddenly remembers back home and starts crying - showing her unexpected soft side.
The ending left me puzzled. I could have handled it better if the credits started rolling after the main character broke the window with her bare fist. It seemed like the director wanted a more pleasant ending but -somehow- did not want to shoot a 30 minutes wrap up for the story so just gave us a sudden turn of events, characters!
The music was noteworthy, especially the one played while the final credits were rolling!
Nice cinematography. Colors were very pretty...
Good acting overall... The bride and the mother-in-law were both great! I especially liked the scene where mother-in-law suddenly remembers back home and starts crying - showing her unexpected soft side.
The ending left me puzzled. I could have handled it better if the credits started rolling after the main character broke the window with her bare fist. It seemed like the director wanted a more pleasant ending but -somehow- did not want to shoot a 30 minutes wrap up for the story so just gave us a sudden turn of events, characters!
The music was noteworthy, especially the one played while the final credits were rolling!
Nice cinematography. Colors were very pretty...
Hidden gem about hidden lipstick.
paulcreeden28 October 2007
I missed this film when it was in the theaters and saw it on DVD recently. I was impressed with the raw and brutal portrayal of the oppression of a woman in a peasant religious culture. I am the product of a similar home from a geographically different culture. The dynamics were the same. I had a grandmother strikingly similar to the violent and domineering matriarch in the film. My mother struggled through domination and surfaced to be a scarred but liberated woman in her time.
I feel the film did a great service to educate the uninitiated, those liberal or naive people in civilized societies, who think that these cultures are quaint and should be left to spin on their own web of unenlightened misery. I think the film portrays a small variety of reactions and variables which effect these violent and repressive cultures when their members immigrate into industrialized and socialized societies with aspirations to human rights for all.
Given the massive inertia that must be overcome to get people, both immigrants and native residents, to be open, flexible, peaceful, generous and kind to each other, this film, beautifully produced, is a good primer. I recommend it.
I feel the film did a great service to educate the uninitiated, those liberal or naive people in civilized societies, who think that these cultures are quaint and should be left to spin on their own web of unenlightened misery. I think the film portrays a small variety of reactions and variables which effect these violent and repressive cultures when their members immigrate into industrialized and socialized societies with aspirations to human rights for all.
Given the massive inertia that must be overcome to get people, both immigrants and native residents, to be open, flexible, peaceful, generous and kind to each other, this film, beautifully produced, is a good primer. I recommend it.
Inch'Allah Dimanche is a crowd pleaser.
epetrov12 January 2002
This one should be a real crowd pleaser. It's a women's film that evokes both laughter and tears. It's got a sympathetic Muslim protagonist, Zoina, who evolves into a feminist icon. The musical sound track is emotional dynamite, even though the lyrics are largely untranslated and may, one suspects, contain information that would illuminate the narrative. There are lots of fascinating cross-cultural devices. All this and a happy ending too. The only problem with Inch Allah Dimanche is that it's artistically spurious. The most glaring deficiency is character development. There is no explanation, for example, as to how this Algerian woman came to be such a cultural anomaly. We can see her growing anger and rebellion under the rain of abuse from her mother-in-law and husband, but where is the wellspring of prior experience? And, even more troublesome, how do we explain the sudden transformation of her heretofore stereotypical Arab husband in the final scene? Audiences, however, are likely love this film in spite of its obvious flaws.
Best movie ever
kosmofay828 January 2006
The best movie I have ever seen in my ENTIRE life - and I watch A LOT of movies. The finesse with which the main character is built is just beautiful - she just shines. The movie is not stereotypical at all. The film also doesn't fall into the trap of making the ending happy and conclusive - at the end you're just left with a smile on your face and feeling like Zouina (the main character) is actually somewhere out there living her life. The supporting actors are perfect, from the bus driver to the neighbors to the grocery store clerk. The pace of the movie is that of a lullaby - a still, sad, lullaby. This movie deserves all the praise in the world - I don't think there is any movie out there, even the big Hollywood productions, that could top this film.
THis movie was gucci
user-244-51090820 February 2015
Not only was this the best movie i've ever seen it was also the worst. THis movie made me question life itself but the biggest question i found myself asking was, who won the garden contest? ANother central theme of this movie is the beloved grandmother who nurtured her son and grandchildren, why there wasn't a statue erected in her honor is a mystery to me. Long live grandma T. #thunstofam #re2pectopatronum. Zouina was an okay person but the star of the film was definitely the bus driver who rescued the children from a burning building, he truly is a saint. I hope everyone watches this movie because it wastes at least 3 days of class, maybe 3 and a half if andre does a music mercredi. Goober gang over everything shout out to ms neville for teaching lit.
Flow of memories..
filozof9 October 2002
It had been a while since I saw a good film. Watching "Inch'Allah dimanche" has ben refreshing. I am writing this comment while I listen to the closing music the fourth time, left with a taste of cinema and a feeling of sweet sadness. Man looks for a peaceful dwelling on the earth. Homesickness is a characteristic of human existence. We belong to where we feel at home.
I must admit that there seems to be flaws in story and some problems with character development. However this originates from the nature of narrative style the director Yamina Benguigui prefers. You must have heard the literary writing style called "flow or stream of consciousness" to which James Joyce's "Ulysess" shown as an example. In the same manner, the film tells the story as a "flow of memories", most probably from a child's point of view. Reading an interview with Yamina Benguigui, I learn that the texture of the work is personal.
Childhood memories are sometimes clear and sometimes obscure. And a child's perception of the events is mainly based on images. So this explains the power and emotional impact of some scenes in the film: for ex. Zouida's breaking the window with bare hand. Or think of the old French couple's garden. They compete for the best garden award. On the other hand, the Algerian family's garden is caotic. And the garden is not their own yet, the children can not play there as they wish. Around the symbolism of garden, we get a from-inside look at the emigrant psychology in its naive form through a child's eye.
Anyway I don't want to go much into details. I recommend the film, hire it and make your own reading. It is worth to see. Acting is good, the music touchs. What else?! Congragulations to Yamina.
I must admit that there seems to be flaws in story and some problems with character development. However this originates from the nature of narrative style the director Yamina Benguigui prefers. You must have heard the literary writing style called "flow or stream of consciousness" to which James Joyce's "Ulysess" shown as an example. In the same manner, the film tells the story as a "flow of memories", most probably from a child's point of view. Reading an interview with Yamina Benguigui, I learn that the texture of the work is personal.
Childhood memories are sometimes clear and sometimes obscure. And a child's perception of the events is mainly based on images. So this explains the power and emotional impact of some scenes in the film: for ex. Zouida's breaking the window with bare hand. Or think of the old French couple's garden. They compete for the best garden award. On the other hand, the Algerian family's garden is caotic. And the garden is not their own yet, the children can not play there as they wish. Around the symbolism of garden, we get a from-inside look at the emigrant psychology in its naive form through a child's eye.
Anyway I don't want to go much into details. I recommend the film, hire it and make your own reading. It is worth to see. Acting is good, the music touchs. What else?! Congragulations to Yamina.
Some scenes worked other ones not so much
jordondave-2808510 May 2023
(2001) Inch'Allah Dimanche/ Thank God for Sunday!
(In French and Arab with English subtitles) DRAMA
Written and directed by Yamina Benguigui starring Zouina (Fejria Deliba) a wife with three children whose just moved to France to join her husband as well as her overbearing mother-in-law. Once there, she sees that her life is no different than when she had left as she is continued to be kept inside the household. There are scenes that doesn't seem convincing ,such as throwing a hissy fit to the grouchy neighbors after they punctured a knife into their children's ball after landing onto their prized possession yard. She also start a rapport with friendlier neighbors but with uninteresting results that lead to nowhere. I also think the brief introduction about France accepting refugees family members is nothing but a backdrop to the predictable harsh environments enforced by the father of the household. The movie means well but on an unconvincing terms.
(In French and Arab with English subtitles) DRAMA
Written and directed by Yamina Benguigui starring Zouina (Fejria Deliba) a wife with three children whose just moved to France to join her husband as well as her overbearing mother-in-law. Once there, she sees that her life is no different than when she had left as she is continued to be kept inside the household. There are scenes that doesn't seem convincing ,such as throwing a hissy fit to the grouchy neighbors after they punctured a knife into their children's ball after landing onto their prized possession yard. She also start a rapport with friendlier neighbors but with uninteresting results that lead to nowhere. I also think the brief introduction about France accepting refugees family members is nothing but a backdrop to the predictable harsh environments enforced by the father of the household. The movie means well but on an unconvincing terms.
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