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Two lovers seek a return to their roots in Exils, a road movie from French writer/director Tony Gatlif. As they wind their way from Paris to Algeria - birthplace of their parents - music-loving Zano (Romain Duris) and his girlfriend Naima (Lubna Azabal) flirt, fight, make new friends and finally undergo a spiritual awakening. Our pilgrim pair make pleasant enough company, but in the end it's the sights and sounds of the journey that stay with us rather than the characters.
The decision to hit the road is made in the Paris apartment where we first meet our travellers, fresh from making love. While Exils is candid about their bodies, it doesn't reveal enough of their inner selves to offer the emotional reward of a film like The Motorcycle Diaries (which this often resembles). Even in key moments - when Zano gets sexually jealous over Naima's brief encounter in a flamenco bar, or the climactic Sufi ritual - it feels like we're eyeing events from a distance. Shame, because Duris and Azabal are lively performers, showing off their sizzle in a scene where fruit-picking becomes foreplay.
"IT'S NOT ONLY THE SCENERY THAT IMPRESSES"
Exils' dramatic shortcomings are offset by its success as a travelogue. Gatlif (whose own family history is echoed in the story) shoots in a documentary style that leaves plenty of room for fancy framing (like one lengthy take from the back of a moving truck). It's not only the scenery that impresses: there's also a fine soundtrack (by Gatlif and Monique Dartonne), with socially aware song lyrics that fill in some of the blanks left by the sparse dialogue.
In French, Arabic, Romany and Spanish with English subtitles.
