Motovun Film Festival 2022: ‘Boy From Heaven’ (Review)
Tarik Saleh’s new feature was presented at Motovun Film Festival 2022, a political thriller set in Egypt’s Al-Azhar University.
In his Egypt set feature Boy from Heaven (Walad Min Al Janna), writer and director Tarik Saleh is eager to shine a light and point a finger on corruption in his country. Be it political or religious… Or both. Tawfeek Barhom as Adam is ‘the chosen one’ to carry out his mission – in more ways than one.
We first meet Adam as he deliberates on how to break some good news to his strict father. He may come from a poor family of fishermen, but thanks to his studiousness he’s been accepted to Al-Azhar University – Egypt’s most prestigious religious school. “You think too much,” his father finally concludes. “Don’t forget where you come from,” he adds. These two pieces of advice become crucial for Adam’s survival.
Meek and grateful upon arrival, Adam is surprised by the ‘loose’ behavior of some of his fellow students. It makes him an easy target for Zizo who recruits him as a mole in a huge and intertwined plot to get the next grand Imam elected. He recruits him and is murdered immediately after adding to Adam’s fear and despair.
Zizo’s handler Ibrahim wastes no time in squeezing Adam dry for any and all information that he can get. He explains to Adam in no uncertain terms that he is desirable because he is expandable. In order to avoid Zizo’s fate, Adam will have to be more sly than his predecessor. His constant struggle becomes how much of himself he is willing to sacrifice in order to survive.
Al-Azhar – the scene of the crime as it were – is often shot to appear freshly washed in white. The brightness is irritating but not completely blinding to the eyes. The school’s facade is both architectural and metaphorical as it works to put up an appearance of the purity of the school and the religion it teaches. Behind it, there are so many competing, tugging narratives that they often threaten to overpower the film.
Boy from Heaven is strongest when it is quietest. The most stirring moments in an otherwise hectic spy story are glimpses of true, pure faith. The most beautiful example is when Adam is asked to recite a few lines from the Quran, but he sings them instead. In the cinema, you can hear a pin drop. On screen, Adam gets reprimanded. These personal injustices are the ones that cut deep.
Apart from such few exceptions, Saleh makes sure to keep Boy from Heaven running at a dizzying pace. It helps illustrate the scale of the corruption permeating religion and politics, as well as share in Adam’s anguish and confusion. However, a few less storylines and a few more scenes of what is actually at stake would have given us all the more reason to move to the edge of the seat for the final result.
