Week 9: Ali Zaoua: Prince of the Streets

Ali Zoua: Prince of the Streets, 2000

This film attempts to capture Moroccan street life in an unflinching way.  The film takes place on the streets of Casablanca, using many former (and sadly, current) street kids as cast.  When the title character dies in the opening of the film, his three friends struggle to raise money to bury him with dignity.  The boys need to dodge gangs, poverty, addiction, and violence to survive without parents, money, or security.

Although the film has French producers, the film feels Moroccan.  Rather than show beautiful skyscrapers and progress, the film focuses on the small streets and crowded circles.  The attention to detail, such as school uniforms and advertisements, makes the film pop.  Much like City of God, the run-down settings add to the desperation, with the geography acting as a character.  The boys are attached to the harbor as a place to sleep with relative security from gangs.

The film takes an unflinching look at street violence and the types of children exiled.  Dib, the deaf leader of a gang, uses violence and rape to maintain order among the boys in his gang.  When one of the boys is raped in retaliation for leaving the gang, he finds peace in glue-sniffing.  Inhalants are a big problem among street people in Morocco, and a scene where one of the boys enters the store to buy nails shows the problems of Moroccan society.  A boy goes to the counter and the man gives him glue right away.  When the boy demands nails for a project, the man gives him the cheap ones.  The boy says he needs better nails, but they are too expensive. 

Although the film has subtitles, the richness of Moroccan street slang is lost.  The film takes, "You are when you left school as when you started from, "You entered school as a bucket an left as a bucket" (literal meaning).  The word "sTl" means "bucket," but is a slang term for "stupid."  Translating the film into standard English prevents the film from aging, but it lacks the streetwise vernacular of the kids.  Subtitles, even excellent ones, always have limitations.

Other films:

Take Shelter, 2011