Kilikis:Douar Lboum ( 2018)
Kilikis: Douar Lboum, or The Town of Owls is one of the most engaging feature films directed by Azlarabe Alaoui, a talented Moroccan film director. It's a visual account of a secret political prison informing a dark past in the history of Morocco, and unequivocally the Years of Lead.
It takes a lot of talent to unspool eighteen years of brutal torture over 97 minutes, yet Azlarabe subscribes to the idea that "images are meant to be seen through, not to be seen." Clearly, if we see film images merely as images, we're missing the essence of film viewing.
Douar Lboum is highly acclaimed as an emerging voice advocating for human dignity; and it's safe to say this film is unique in breaking off the "folklore" tendency that is convenient for obtaining funds as well as entertaining fake audiences. It is equally important that this film resonates with anyone who cares to promote human rights and cultural values. Moreover, in orchestrating this piece, the director excelled in documenting the atrocities of the prison and the community without losing a distinct flavor of fiction.
Set on the High Atlas Mountains in the south east of Morocco in the early 1970s, the film follows the relationships between the inmates, the guards and the villagers. The movie opens with boots and the uniform and that sets the tone for the narrative, notably when the ominousness of the prison extends to the whole community. Stricken by nature and culture, the inhabitants' collective fate takes form; and uniformity, eventually morphs the village into prison. The locals hardly realize their chains. Nonetheless, Lafkih underscores it all when he iterates "We're all in the same boat".
Lafkih, however, isn't the only one in the community who has the political awareness that the locals' rights are abused. Said, likewise, is permanently out of his comfort zone, and all his moves place his life in jeopardy. Marzouki, in turn, understandably withdraws from his social life and choses a vantage point to showcase the value of the locals' dignity, knowing that he is the first villager to oppose the prospect of turning the fortress into a secret prison. At this point, it is contestable why he wouldn't leave the village. Nobody knows. This puzzling question clearly exemplifies what R.Barthes refers to as "code of enigma". In talking about codes, a breathtaking shot whereby Lafkih looks at the face of a shrouded corpse to find out that his son Amin demised. Then the course of action changes and this may well be termed "code of actions". Also, the revelation of Amin's face is motivated by the spinning blades of the Helicopter, and this causality relation between events establishes the 'logic' which helps in meeting Brook's characterization of an effective plot.
