Arab Blues * * *

 

So you compulsively write about films you've seen,
even though you have no idea what you're talking about?

Arab Blues (aka, Un Divan a Tunis) is another one from the French Film Festival. 

It's a gentle comedy about a woman who is not happy with her position as a psychoanalyst in Paris so she relocates to her country of origin Tunisia, to start a private practice. She is warned she hasn't got a chance, "Arabs have Allah, they don't need a psychoanalyst."  

But she soon uncovers more distressed and confused people than she can manage, which is to be expected in a society where some things are not spoken about.  Most of the "sessions" are played for laughs.

There is a naïve enthusiasm about the whole thing that makes you stick with it.  Though it's probably just well it's a short feature at about 80 minutes.  It's also just as well that it evokes a fun and fantastical twist toward the end with the introduction of a ghostly character. It's a great moment and gives a dying story a much needed boost.

It stars Golshifteh Farahani who I recall from Paterson. She is very good in this, and contributes greatly to its success and watchability.