Beb el Web
Merzak Allouache
Documentary | Algeria | 2004 | 99 min.
Two bickering brothers, a French ing?nue who is more than she appears, a lowlife gangster who bets on illicit ram fights, and a local eccentric with an uncanny knack for being hit by automobiles. Anything can happen in the Babel-Oued district of the Casbah, and it often does. The action starts when a local vendor known on the Internet as Matrix invites his electronic chat room partner, a young woman living in Paris, to visit him in the heart of Algiers. To his surprise Laurence accepts, leaving him only days to prepare for her arrival?including finding a way to get his mother and sister out of the house for a week. He solicits his brother to raise money to execute his scheme, but things get complicated when his guest arrives from the north. This film is simultaneously comedy, drama, and a compelling portrait of life in a dynamic North African country. Outstanding acting performances and steady directing balance humor with the tough realities of Algerian life.
