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Ali is a young Tunisian who dreams of a better life and ekes out a lonely existence selling contraband oil on the black market. When his father dies, he is forced to care for his two younger sisters who have been left to their own devices in a house from which they will soon be evicted. As he wrestles with the sudden weight of responsibility and the injustices he faces, anger and indignation stir within Ali – that of a generation still fighting to be heard more than a decade after the revolution…
An unwarranted clash between two opposing forces, being; the expectation to provide care for family members, while at the same time, putting oneself at risk to survive. A journey that’s poetic, ferocious and challenging in political and even spiritual ways. Devastating stuff and all too true.
Adam Bessa is a revelation, one of the best performances at Cannes this year, stone-faced, hunching over in a ball, breaking out in extreme moments of violence. It’s a stunning bit of realism to look at globalization and its discontents, sharp politics delivered with bravura form. Alongside Bessa’s superb performance, the film boasts exceptional coloring, inventive editing (there’s a hard cut on the top layer of a superimposition that works perfectly as a bit of subjective editing), and Eli Keszler’s beautiful score.
The title, Harka, has two meanings, both pertinent to the plight in which Ali finds himself. One meaning is “to burn”. The other is a colloquialism for migrating illegally across the Mediterranean by boat. It’s a choice of title which speaks ominously of the future for Ali – it is fair to say that there are no shortage of clues in the film which foreshadow his fate. Perpetually smeared in oil and grease from his job illegally selling gas to passing motorists from a jerry can, it is almost as though Ali has given up trying to wash the low status from his appearance. Certainly, the people he encounters – the powerful, the successful – make no secret of their…
Absolutely gorgeous. Absolutely, completely gorgeous. A masterclass of subject positioning on screen, as well as some of the most compelling and ingenious editing I have seen in a long time. Genius acting, brilliant performance.
A film that doesn't shy away from the despair and hopelessness of poverty, nor does it seek fantastical and illogical ways out like so many of these films that we've seen down the decades. It's bleak until it gets bleaker and because of that Harka is realistic and urgent.
As a film, it's quite well made even if its acting outside of Adam Bessa's excellent lead performance is mixed, and the ending is strangely offbeat in comparison to the rest of its impressively tight running time. A good snapshot of a country in the grip of high unemployment rates and social turmoil and those that are suffering as a result.
Ali, who is around 20 years old, has no school leaving certificate or training. His parents are dead. He tries to make ends meet by illegally selling gasoline or diesel. To do this he has to bribe all sorts of people and in the end there is little left. After 3 years he returns to his siblings: 2 younger sisters and an older brother. The brother has decided to try his luck in the tourist resorts by the sea and is leaving the siblings. Shortly afterwards, a debt collector comes to their house and explains to them that there is still a remaining debt of 8,000 on their house and if it is not paid in the short term, they…
Like a desert, it's very beautiful but not a lot happening on the surface.
The most interesting aspect of this film about a young man who returns to his family to look after his sisters and try to make money in a country where there's no money to be made is the view it offers of Tunisia.
This is not the Tunisia of travel brochures or vacation pamphlets, this is the real down and dirty deal of what life is like in one of the poorest countries in North Africa and why so many people want to leave ('harka' is an Arabic slang term referring to clandestine migration across the Mediterranean).
Apart from that, the viewer can understand and sympathize with the young man's predicament, but the lack of narrative arc prevents us from walking into that desert ourselves.
You can quickly guess where you’re going... But the power of the film lies not in a possible suspense, but in its ability to move the viewer by the way it tells this relentless descent, the meticulous destruction of a courageous and persevering young man, caught in an inextricable situation. I liked the way of filming, how the story is built, the almost absence of dialogues, the secondary character’s voice-over. I was impressed by the actor who carries the film that I don’t think I’ve ever seen anywhere else. A strong film that gives the roots of the Arab Spring a memorable face. --- On devine rapidement vers quoi on s'achemine... Mais la puissance du film ne réside pas dans…
Though it culminates in a satisfying final act and a sledgehammer of an ending that drives home it’s themes, the bulk of what comes before felt too detached to leave much of a lasting impression on me.
The first hour I spent thinking I would walk away knowing nothing about Ali and wanting more from his family dynamic with his younger sisters. That said, Adam Bessa is fantastic and really invested me in his plight when everything reaches its crescendo, despite the storytelling around his performance letting him down.
