Tuesday, March 23, 2010
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Tuesday, March 23, 2010
DVD REVIEW
Captain Abu Raed
He's Ready For Takeoff,
Illusion And Reality
Nadim Sawalha, brilliant in the title role in "Captain Abu Raed", directed by
Amin Matalqa, and now on DVD in the U.S.
NeoClassics Films
By
Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com
FOLLOW
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Its DVD cover proclaims, "winner of 27 festival awards", but even if it hadn't
won a single award, "Captain Abu Raed", which was released by NeoClassics Films
exactly a month ago to own or rent in the U.S., is a beautiful, touching story
about an airport janitor who inspires, misleads and makes a major difference in
the lives of some young Jordanian children.
Amin Matalqa's drama is filled with light, joy and shades of cold despair,
featuring a marvelous performance by Nadim Sawalha as the title character, a man
whose ambitions are exceeded by the stories he tells eager children who think
he's an airline pilot. One of the biggest charms of the film are the young
kids who populate it with their fine acting, especially Hussein Al-Sous as Murad.
Mr. Al-Sous exhibits both tenderness and anger in his work as Murad, an
embattled child.
The DVD of this beautifully photographed story by Reinhart Peschke is presented
in 1:78:1 widescreen. "Captain Abu Raed" comes complete with 5.1 Dolby
Surround Sound in the Arabic language, with subtitles in English, French and
Spanish.
Special features include a featurette on the making of "Captain Abu Raed",
background on composing the music of the film, plus the U.S. theatrical trailer
for the film and assorted previews of other NeoClassics films.
There are two audio commentaries on the DVD, including the director and composer
Austin Wintory. Mr. Wintory's music is a sublime companion to the film,
even if some parts of Mr. Matalqa's film border on maudlin. That may be a
harsh statement, but "Captain Abu Raed" is nothing if not sincere in its
intentions, both as a drama and as a fine work.
FOLLOW
Read more movie reviews and stories from Omar
here.
Read Omar's "Far-Flung Correspondent" reports for America's pre-eminent Film
Critic Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times -
here
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