'Ali Zaoua' finds magical beauty in street kids' bleak reality
Set in the seared streets and vacant lots of Casablanca, "Ali Zaoua: Prince of the Streets" is populated by children: boys, aged perhaps 8 or 9, with scratchy little voices and sad eyes. There's nothing cute about these boys — they're grubby street urchins, petty thieves and glue sniffers — and nothing childlike about their dilemma, as they try to collect money to bury a dead friend in the manner of a prince.
Director/co-writer Nabil Ayouch spent several years befriending actual Moroccan street kids before making his film, and this is reflected in the ease of the mostly non-actor cast. The boys, who alternate between boyish exuberance and soul-crushing sadness, are perfectly natural for Ayouch's camera, giving a documentary-like realism to the story.
It's clear from the start that there can be no happy ending for these Lost Boys — abandoned by their parents, their choices are to live alone on the dangerous streets, or to join up with the mysteriously scarred Dib (Said Tahgmaoui), a sadistic gang leader. But Ayouch, carefully walking a tightrope between realism and sentimentality, shows us a third option: a magical fantasy future, shown in animation, in which young Ali, who always wanted to be a sailor, paddles away to an island paradise.
And director of photography Vincent Mathias finds the beauty in an ink-blue Moroccan night sky, or a watercolorlike final shot with two suns quietly glowing. "Ali Zaoua" occasionally crosses the line into heavy-handedness, particularly in one scene in which a boy repeatedly tosses away a lame puppy who nonetheless keeps returning. But it's the eyes of the children, not the puppy, that stay with you after "Ali Zaoua" is over — as well as the compassion that's evident in every frame.
Moira Macdonald: 206-464-2725 or mmacdonald@seattletimes.com.
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