If You Want it Hard Enough
11 year-old Wadjda (Waad Mohammed) is an entrepreneurial young girl who having seen a beautiful new bike she would like sets about raising the money through making friendship bracelets. But this isn't America as Wadjda lives in Saudi Arabia and as the 11 year old is becoming aware of, there are rules and expectations when you are female in Saudi Arabia with her strict headmistress constantly reminding her of the traditions. When Wadjda realises she is never going to save up enough money through making friendship bracelets she sees that the school announces a Koran-reciting competition with prize money so sets about learning the Koran with one goal in mind.
"Wadjda" is the sort of movie which if you scanned the TV channels would get a late night slot, not because it contains anything unsuitable for younger eyes but as a foreign movie it is deemed of interest to those with a deeper interest in movies rather than just those looking for pure entertainment. And that is a crying shame as "Wadjda" is one of those movies which is fascinating and transcends the language barriers so that you don't need to sit glued to the subtitles to understand what is going on. And what is going on is both eye opening and entertaining.
Now before I go on I have to mention that "Wadjda" is directed by Haifaa Al-Mansour who if you didn't know is the first female filmmaker in Saudi Arabia. Considering those rules and traditions which are shown in the movie applied to Haifaa she is an inspiring woman. And what is more miraculous is when you learn that in order to film "Wadjda" on the streets of Saudi Arabia she was not allowed to interact with the male crew and so had to sit in a van watching on a monitor and directing through a walkie talkie. The fact that "Wadjda" turned out so entertaining is a miracle let alone the fact that it isn't full of bitterness.
Anyway as to the movie itself well "Wadjda" is simply beautiful and entertaining because the story of young Wadjda being an independent young woman with a sense of determination to find a way of achieving what she wants is inspirational. But it is also the way that Wadjda is a breath of fresh air against the old traditions which we see from the way her father chooses to stay at his mothers as he thinks about taking a second wife to Wadjda's friendship with a young boy who once in a while teases her. What I am saying is that you actually learn a lot watching "Wadjda" when it comes to the way of life in Saudi Arabia but at the same time you are entertained with both the performances of young Waad Mohammed and Reem Abdullah as her mother impressing.
What this all boils down to is that "Wadjda" is one of those movies which is rare because it is a foreign language movie which transcends the language barrier. But it is also a fascinating movie which is both interesting and entertaining.
