Roger Balch

EXIT MARRAKECH

A troubled father and son relationship is at the heart of the new German film, EXIT MARRAKECH
A troubled father and son relationship is at the heart of the new German film, EXIT MARRAKECH

Although sixteen-year-old Ben leads a privileged life he is failing to engage with it. EXIT MARRAKECH opens with his luxurious private school in Germany breaking up for the summer holidays and the principal calling him in for a little chat and telling him he must become a more active participant in life.

While his chums are jetting off to the beaches of the south France, a grumpy Ben (Samuel Schneider) finds himself in a chauffeur-driven limousine en-route to the airport and Morocco, where his divorced and emotionally distant father is directing a worthy German play in this poor country grappling with the implications of the Arab Spring.

The scene is therefore set for a classic coming-of-age film and the big questions loom. What adventures will befall our arrogant hero? How will he cope? How will his character be forged by unforeseen events? Will the smirking and frankly obnoxious Ben turn into a character to whom the audience warms?

And, most importantly, will director Caroline Link be able to take the audience along on this journey? If she doesn’t, this 123-minute film will feel like a long and unrewarding ride.

Ben certainly has his fair share of adventures. He buys hashish. He wanders though the backstreets of Marrakech. He goes to a sleazy bar. He meets a young prostitute, Karima (Hafsia Herzi).

Despite all this, the first half of the film is slow going and rarely fails to rise above being a decently shot travel doco of the less touristy parts of Morocco. Ben’s adventures with the endearing and enchanting Karima are occasionally touching but often tedious.

It is only when his increasingly irritated father played by Ulrich Tukur tracks him down in the desert that the film springs to life, as father and son finally communicate and find common ground, a process accelerated by a disaster on their drive back to civilization. However, despite Ben’s odyssey Samuel Schneider’s facial expressions rarely encompass anything other than a smirk – albeit either an arrogant smirk or a knowing smirk – and fail to engage the sympathy of the audience. Karima is a much more beguiling and interesting character.

EXIT MARRAKECH is screening as part of the Audi Festival of German Films 2014 in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.Sydney: 26 March to 10 April at the Chauvel Cinema and Palace Norton Street. Melbourne: 27 March to 11 April at the Palace Cinema Como and Kino Cinemas. Brisbane: 28 March to 3 April at the Palace Centro.