Technically,
Sabrina and Dorcy’s families both came from the same continent. Yet, for all practical purposes, they are a
universe apart. The couple intends to
marry just the same, whether or not their families approve in Rachid Djaïdani’s
surprisingly witty Rengaine (a.k.a. Hold Back, trailer here), which screens tomorrow
during this year’s New Directors/New Films, co-presented by MoMA and the Film
Society of Lincoln Center.
The
son of Christian Africans, Dorcy is a struggling actor. Frankly, he does not seem to be very good at
it, but at least he is trying. Sabrina has
fallen in love with him nonetheless, but her forty—that’s right four-zero—Algerian
immigrant brothers do not approve. At least that is true of the eldest,
Slimane, who presumes to speak for the rest of his siblings.
Alarmed
by Sabrina’s romantic transgression, Slimane proceeds to mobilize his brothers,
but to their credit, some think he is just being a controlling jerk. However, probably a good two thirds are
either inclined to agree with him or can be easily cowed by the self-appointed
guardian of traditional Muslim values.
Frankly, most of the latter are rather sketchy characters who might have
stepped out of Le Pen’s campaign commercials.
In contrast, the brothers who are more integrated into French society
argue Slimane should mind his own business—and he has plenty to mind. Ironically the elder brother is engaged in
his own romantic relationship with an alternative cabaret singer, who happens
to be Jewish.
Filmed
over a nine year stretch, the not quite eighty minute Rengaine was definitely a labor of for French Algerian-Sudanese
novelist Djaïdani, who clearly identifies with his lead characters and their
various situations. The film has a whole
lot of rough edges, yet that really is a large part of its charm. While some bits amount to little more than
false starts, other scenes are wickedly droll and resound with the ring of
truth.
As
Dorcy, Stéphane Soo Mongo (whose credits include an episode of The Sopranos) is quite convincing as a
terrible actor, which actually constitutes a nice bit of acting. He also gets most of the film’s laughs with
his satirical misadventures in Parisian hipsterdom. Sabrina Hamida effectively expresses her
namesake’s frustrations and outrages, but it is not as meaty a role as that of
her two primary male co-stars. Indeed, Slimane
Dazi (another of the cast’s few established professionals, recognizable from
films like Free Men and A Prophet) really lowers the boom as Brother Slimane. Memorably world weary and conflicted, he
takes the film to some dark places, including a riveting confrontation with the
final brother.