98% Wadjda

All Critics (40) | Top Critics (12) | Fresh (39) | Rotten (1)

It's a stunningly assured debut, a slyly subversive delight, and one of my favorite movies of the year so far.

What makes the movie so delightful is that Wadjda isn't trying to make trouble; she's just being herself.

Cleanly shot, concisely edited, "Wadjda" is a film that parents and smart children could enjoy together; its heroine is both immediately a type (yes, they roll their eyes in Saudi Arabia, too) and a very specific character.

Wadjda is a winning and wonderfully moving tale of an endearing 10-year-old girl, living in a suburb of Riyadh, making her voice heard in a patriarchal society that seeks to silence her.

With impressive agility, "Wadjda" finds room to maneuver between harsh realism and a more hopeful kind of storytelling.

This quiet film could become something of a cultural thunderclap.

Writer/director Haifaa Al-Mansour is not only the first female Saudi Arabian filmmaker, she's made the first film completely shot in her home country and the fact that it is critical of Islamic views towards women makes it all the more remarkable.

The film doesn't sugarcoat the situation in Saudi Arabia-far from it-but by the end, it makes clear in that in the likes of Wadjda, there are real hopes for progress and change in years to come.

An expertly crafted piece of filmmaking...Wadjda is an object of stark beauty, an oasis of free-spirited cinema emerging from the desert.

Rarely underlining her points when a subtle observation can be made instead, writer-director Haifaa Al-Mansour deftly shows us a Saudi Arabia in flux.

Thanks to this wonderful film, we may now understand a little better what those girls are up against, and how even a modest step forward-like riding a bike-should be celebrated.

It doesn't play like reality, but like boilerplate filmic fantasy, and its novel setting and inception struggles seem positioned as a beard--or veil, if you will--to mask its mediocrity.

A courageous and creative little girl in the oppressive and patriarchal Saudi Arabian society expresses her rebelliousness and tries to fulfill her dreams.

Wadjda is a well-crafted, liberal and humane message film that will fascinate westerners with its glimpses into the lives of Saudi Arabian women behind closed domestic doors, and stir debate on womens' issues inside and outside the Middle East.

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/wadjda_2013/

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