Indigenes looks interesting; the cast were awarded at Cannes. I actually happened to catch Mission Cleopatra in theatres on a boring, rainy day. I was pleasantly surprised, but then I always did like the original story.

!!ياخي القبلية الخليجية ليست مملة, لكني لست قلدرا على قول ذلك بخصوص المغرب

I presume, my dear, that was the Yemani's response? As there aren't really Maghrebine tribes any more (Thank God).

Sheikh,

my impression is that the first picture is actually taken from "A summer in La Goulette", which was a Tunisian movie. At least, it's strikingly similar.

Debbouze is really great fun. And an interesting person too.

BTW, all 4 are French Arabs, n'en déplaise to the French who want to think there's no such a thing. Jamel Debbouze is a big star in both France and the Maghreb. Sami Naceri is also a big star in France. Roshdy Zem is quite famous too. Sami Bouajila, though he played minor roles in famous French movies, hasn't got the fame of the 3 first.

Item plus, Rachid Bouchareb, the director, is also a French Arab (of Algerian descent, not Moroccan).

I don't know if it's accurate to say the movie is Moroccan.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh, bah. nitpicker. Mzien, Franco-Maghrebine.

On the first pic, I took it as presented, might be right.

iShaheen: have no idea why ANYONE would want to spend their summer in La Goulette. the place litterally breathes pollution! La Marsa is a far better choice. higher brow clientel too. although... the inexpensive beach bars in La Goulette do make it attractive.

L: if the first pict is an accurate portrayal of maroc, then i belive i will be making a visit quite soon. bathing suits on tunisian women, in general, are not nearly as flattering.

I have a good friend I met in tunis researching Tunisian WWII vets and the french system that paid them their stipends. he spent months sifting through the various archives, interviewing all of these ancient men (with some literally dieing a few weeks after the interview), and, in general, digging a bit too deep for the french vetran's agency's liking. i believe (if he hasn't already) he should be publishing quite soon. if anyone is interested, i could see about getting him to make a few comments.

Sheikh,

you're right about the pic, it's Marock's. I'll try to watch it tomorrow. The picture is the main poster. Both the movie's theme and its main poster seem to be inspired by A summer in La Goulette though.

Dr Dougfir,

I lived 3 years in La Marsa, a long time ago. One of my favorite places in Tunisia too, and would have a second residence there anytime - provided the famished antiaristo underscum who took over slow their rampage pace. Speaking of La Marsa, I used to come across Ferid Boughedir there, A Summer in La Goulette's director. Small world, heh? I have visited La Goulette maybe a couple of times, and I don't even remember it.

bathing suits on tunisian women, in general, are not nearly as flattering

That's because you haven't been to the right beaches. Tunisian women are generally less modest than Moroccan, and both countries' beaches tend to reflect that. That said, you'll find sexy and gorgeous ladies in both countries.

Shaheen,

the next time i'm in tunisia for an extended stint, you will have to inform me which beaches to frequent. having taken in the sights at a significant number of tourst and local beaches, i can say that i was, in general, underwhelmed.

also, i must admit some amount of bias against tunisian women. chiefly because i was either 1) not scummy enough or 2) had too high of standards.

E & L: do either of you have the link to that wonderful photo of the western (topless) woman and two hidjab'ed women in a swimming pool? it seems especially appropriate given the devolving nature of these comments.

i must admit some amount of bias against tunisian women. chiefly because i was either 1) not scummy enough or 2) had too high of standards.

Ah, none was as saintly as mom, eh?

quite the oposite, actually. all were more saintly than mum. well, or were visa whores.

Well, mate, you seem to have been hanging out in the wrong quarters.

(And what's wrong with visa business women? You say that like it is a bad thing.)

(I feel like I've wandered into a guys' locker room)

DrDoug appears to be a hopeless romantic.

E: i only pine for you! (yes, you stumbled into the locker room. mind the jock straps.)

L: had i wanted to live at the golden tulip, i suppose i could have found what i wanted. drinks were a bit out of my price range though. also, visa women become tiring quickly with their incessant whining about going to the embassy to start the paperwork process. that, and i don't enjoy the whitewashed look of a significant portion of the visa hunters at places like the club down the street from the TGM stop in La Marsa. I speak of the club with the electric palm tree. perhaps if the women at the clubs weren't painted white, i would have bit. who likes whitewashed women anyway? russians? and, is russia really a step up from tunisia?

Just a quick book recommendation slightly related to this topic:

Colonial Conscripts: The Tirailleurs Senegalais in French West Africa, 1857-1960 by Myron Echenberg ( 1991, Heinemann Educational Books Inc. ).

Interesting stuff. For instance over 170,000 served in WW I, 30,000 of whom were KIA.

I recall reading that. Dry hyper-academic writing, but lots of interesting information. Probably where most of formal knowl. of this comes from.

Quite OT: You've probably seen this, but just in case:

http://www.algathafi.org/index-en.htm

From locker room to classroom:

Other than the movie promo, is there a site, article, book, etc. that credibly documents those demographics of the resistance francaise? (Not challenging it, just may want to use).

Of course, the movie "Two Women" (with Sophia Loren) gives a different, and rather stereotyped, view of "Moorish" soldiers among the Allied regulartroops. Perhaps one related to the true historic incident where Pope Pius XII was said to have asked the Allies that black troops not be deployed in Rome for fear of the sexual safety of Roman women.

I finally managed to watch Marock. As I expected, the movie's a postcard for Western consumption, I don't understand why it was nominated for anything at Cannes. It isn't targetting an Arab public as the majority will neither identify with it nor will they find the pygmalion BS they like in soap operas. Unlike many other Maghrebi movies targetting Western publics though, it did us the favor not to play on stereotypes but depicted in realistic terms the life of a certain category of Moroccans.

Nothing was really thoughtful in the movie , it was pretty superficial. Sequences of nice Casa districts, teenage life at the Lycée Lyautey (the French diplomatic mission high school in Casa - the kind of school Maghrebi priviledged class, foreign diplomats and European expats send their kids to), sex drugs and rock n'roll at Casa's beaches and nightclubs, etc. The story revolves around Rita, a young priviledged Muslim Moroccan in her last months at the high school and the summer before she leaves for university in France, her equally priviledged Jewish Moroccan date, and a few other second characters. I mention their religion because they seem to want to enrich the storyline with the issue. Fortunately, they didn't make a big fuss about it because, in that environment and at that age, it would have been fake. All in all, it's deja vu for any Westerner who watched Beverly Hills, with a Maghrebi touch. Maybe the shock for the people at Cannes was to discover that North Africans too could live a Berverly Hills kind of lifestyle?

BTW, the Moroccan idiots who wanted to ban it are hyprocrits. I don't know what's depicted in the movie that is so uncommon as to be called an attack on Islamic values or anything of the kind. The lifestyle depicted in the movie is a matter of daily life among a certain class, it's well known unless you've lived under a rock in Layoune, and most Moroccans (make it Maghrebis - no, make it Arabs) would kill to achieve it.

To sum up, the movie left me with mixed feelings. I'd say it's just okay if you've got some spare time, you haven't seen a movie of that kind for a while or if you're living in Paris, London or Seattle and haven't seen the sun for sometime now. Don't expect anything intellectual though or you'll be disappointed. The direction is quite good. Anyway, I liked it, but probably more for personal reasons than for its quality.

Matthew, your best bet is to contact the French ministry of defense. There are various numbers in different web sites, most in French, and none is authoritative.