An honest social realistic drama from Iraq – Blogging Sole

The shattering of a childhood dream is a symbol of the cruel fate of the Messi Baghdad nation. Belgian-Kurdish director Sahim Omar Khalifa has expanded his highly acclaimed 2012 short film into a poignant social drama that unfolds amid violence and fear in Iraq in 2009, during the Second Gulf War. Messi Baghdad, about a football-obsessed young boy whose family is forced to move from the capital to a small village after his leg is amputated in a terrorist attack, has an almost documentary-like realism that makes Iraq’s international game compelling to watch. Oscar Presentation Feature.

Born in Iraqi Kurdistan during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), Khalifa fled to Belgium in 2001 and has since had a successful career with Oscar-shortlisted short films (“Messi of Baghdad,” “Bad Hunter”). , and feature novels (“Zagros”) and co-directed the 2023 documentary “The Hidden Beauty of Iraq,” a portrait of Iraqi photographer Latif Al-Ani, whose work began in 2023. The 1950s documented Iraq’s architectural landmarks and urban landscapes, many of which have now been destroyed.

This destruction is present everywhere in “Messi Baghdad.” In an environment that more closely resembles a post-apocalyptic wasteland than a functioning city, 11-year-old Hamoudi (Ahmed Mohamed Abdullah) lives for soccer and idolizes Lionel Messi, the Argentine genius who was then playing for Spanish giants Barcelona F.C. bad. As every child who played football understands, Hamoudi and his teammates “are” Barcelona in their corner of Baghdad. The boys they play against look up to Cristiano Ronaldo – Messi’s only rival for the title of FIFA World Player of the Year in 2009 – and therefore “their” Ronaldo of Manchester United. It is a cruel irony that the official Barcelona shirt of that era was emblazoned with the UNICEF logo and was here worn by children living in such horrific danger. It is also worth noting that when Hamoudi and his comrades criticized Ronaldo, they called him a “sissy”, while in the 2012 short film, the insult was “gay”.

During one of these neighborhood games, Hamoudi was caught in the crossfire during an attack on an American security company called Unity. Hamoudi’s father, Kazem (Atheer Adel, born in Baghdad and residing in Germany, “Al-Watan” and “Nobel” series), who is a translator working for the unit, witnesses the violence. When the family home is burned down and Kazem is branded a traitor because of his ties to the foreign company, the family moves from Baghdad to the remote village where Hamoudi’s mother, Salwa (Zahraa Ghandour, “The Journey”) lives.

But it’s hard to escape from everything. Kazem’s hidden identity as a Shiite in the Sunni-dominated region is a source of underlying fear and causes conflict between Salwa and her strong-willed sister Mirjim (Safaa Najm). As the family struggles economically, the village head, Othman (Adel Abdel Rahman), contacts Kazem to search for valuable weapons scattered in a nearby area filled with mines.

The stark realities of life in a country shattered by war form a powerful loop around the central story of Hamoudi, whose passion for football has not waned but is now excluded from even playing as a goalkeeper by the local boys and has difficulty making friends because of his talent. infection. Young actor Abdullah, who lost his left leg when he was four in a missile attack that killed his father, gives a remarkable performance as the resourceful boy who ultimately takes enormous risks to preserve at least part of his dream.

The warm heart of the film is Hamoudi’s relationship with his guilt-ridden father and his mother, who is loving but also pragmatic and forthright in family matters. “I know you are a good player. But you will never be as good as before. There are a lot of wonderful things in life that you can learn and love,” Salwa tells her son, realizing that football is still everything for the boy, and as the final approaches Champions League between Barcelona and Manchester United Quickly, Kazem’s fatherly love drives him to make a perilous return to Baghdad, accompanied by Hamoudi, to fix the broken television set.

IIt was easy for Kalifi and screenwriter Kobi Van Steenberghe (also a producer) to find a miraculous and difficult solution to the challenges faced by Hamoudi and his family. To their credit, the film takes a path that feels honest and real. Although there are some minor plot errors and perhaps a little more tension in some scenes, “Messi Baghdad” wins with strongly drawn characters that audiences will connect with and a story that feels real at every turn.

Shot by cinematographer Anton Mertens (“The Spy,” “Zeevonk”) in a minimalist style that perfectly suits the drama, “Baghdad Messi” is set to a wonderful score by Frederik Verschwal (“The Green Border”), rich with sounds from the duduk and harpsichord. A string resembling an oud. The film is dedicated to the memory of Hassan Ali Naeem (2007–2019), the one-legged goalkeeper seen in the closing credits and whom Kalifi originally wanted to play the lead role.

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