I rarely bother writing reviews here these days, but I couldn't resist sharing a couple of opinions on this one. I do get why it's so highly rated here on IMDb, yet I thought that for a change a director would like to presents us with something different, like a social comment for instance, than the following:
A young man from a Moroccan family living in the suburbs of a Dutch city feels the effects of the anomic society he's inhabiting. On top of that he is far and away from the morals and ethics of his parents, which is presumable, given the fact that he lives in a environment which runs on mixture of mechanic (the parents) and organic solidarity (the dutch). Being alone (which by the way is signified by the allegory with the wolf - an animal who can lead a lonely life, but has strong guts, just like the main protagonist), estranged from the society of his parents, and alienated from the Dutch society in which he grew, he never manages to find his way, which results in outburst of violence, crime and, eventually, death.
Instead of criticising that by his oeuvre (even if he tried, he failed for the sake of the movie selling well) the director's use the same old story told once again here which results in praising the actual acts of violence, crime, vengeance, hypocrisy and most of all profanity. You see it's a natural for the individual to feel angst when confronted by something he doesn't know and understand, something that is foreign to him and therefore seen as a threat. Virtually, what we have here is the main protagonist who feels all this towards the time and place he lives in together with his environments and the people around his - friends and family included. It's crucial for us to understand that he fists his way throughout his life because he failed to find his way into it, therefore, he's unable to cope with it otherwise.
I believe, it's quite poignant the fact that he cannot maintain a simple relationship, which is obviously something he cannot manage, just because he doesn't know how to act in a relationship. The girl he likes is a bimbo from the hood - he'll kill for her, yet it's too much for him to call her for 6 months, because he never managed to internalise what it is to care and to be cared for.
Many will find inspiration in this movie, just because hoards of people nowadays are in the same situation. They feel alone, lost, estranged and misunderstood - as I said above all these are the result of an anomic society under the influence of their own oeuvre. Many will praise the main protagonist for his ability to fist his way throughout the banalities of life.
Why I hated this movie is because it never grew to actually acknowledge all the problems that it raises. These are amongst many others: the human situation, discrimination, failure in multicultural policies, failure in dealing with the problems with the minorities an mostly marginalising these minorities. Not to mention the fact that instead putting these issues onto the table and furthermore dealing with the violence and crime that are so deceptively shown here, it actually makes us feel for them and most importantly for the need of a persona to establish them.
Last but not least it failed to perform an even slight attempt of evolution and reincarnation of the character - it's suitable to mention here that the movie lacked ANY likable characters to begin with apart from the dying, well-to-do brother, who's figure was obviously an allegory of the helplessness of the entire situation to change and the message that it's all doomed. All in all I cannot show respect for a movie that praises what is wrong in a society instead giving it a voice up for a chance. Maybe by filming it all, the director wanted to show us all the stereotypes through which he patched his movie and raise all the questions coming out of them, yet it all turned against it, not matter the good cinematography and believable characters.
A young man from a Moroccan family living in the suburbs of a Dutch city feels the effects of the anomic society he's inhabiting. On top of that he is far and away from the morals and ethics of his parents, which is presumable, given the fact that he lives in a environment which runs on mixture of mechanic (the parents) and organic solidarity (the dutch). Being alone (which by the way is signified by the allegory with the wolf - an animal who can lead a lonely life, but has strong guts, just like the main protagonist), estranged from the society of his parents, and alienated from the Dutch society in which he grew, he never manages to find his way, which results in outburst of violence, crime and, eventually, death.
Instead of criticising that by his oeuvre (even if he tried, he failed for the sake of the movie selling well) the director's use the same old story told once again here which results in praising the actual acts of violence, crime, vengeance, hypocrisy and most of all profanity. You see it's a natural for the individual to feel angst when confronted by something he doesn't know and understand, something that is foreign to him and therefore seen as a threat. Virtually, what we have here is the main protagonist who feels all this towards the time and place he lives in together with his environments and the people around his - friends and family included. It's crucial for us to understand that he fists his way throughout his life because he failed to find his way into it, therefore, he's unable to cope with it otherwise.
I believe, it's quite poignant the fact that he cannot maintain a simple relationship, which is obviously something he cannot manage, just because he doesn't know how to act in a relationship. The girl he likes is a bimbo from the hood - he'll kill for her, yet it's too much for him to call her for 6 months, because he never managed to internalise what it is to care and to be cared for.
Many will find inspiration in this movie, just because hoards of people nowadays are in the same situation. They feel alone, lost, estranged and misunderstood - as I said above all these are the result of an anomic society under the influence of their own oeuvre. Many will praise the main protagonist for his ability to fist his way throughout the banalities of life.
Why I hated this movie is because it never grew to actually acknowledge all the problems that it raises. These are amongst many others: the human situation, discrimination, failure in multicultural policies, failure in dealing with the problems with the minorities an mostly marginalising these minorities. Not to mention the fact that instead putting these issues onto the table and furthermore dealing with the violence and crime that are so deceptively shown here, it actually makes us feel for them and most importantly for the need of a persona to establish them.
Last but not least it failed to perform an even slight attempt of evolution and reincarnation of the character - it's suitable to mention here that the movie lacked ANY likable characters to begin with apart from the dying, well-to-do brother, who's figure was obviously an allegory of the helplessness of the entire situation to change and the message that it's all doomed. All in all I cannot show respect for a movie that praises what is wrong in a society instead giving it a voice up for a chance. Maybe by filming it all, the director wanted to show us all the stereotypes through which he patched his movie and raise all the questions coming out of them, yet it all turned against it, not matter the good cinematography and believable characters.
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