Type:
Feature Film
Director:
Ismael Ferroukhi
Year:
2004
Time:
108 minutes
Language:
Arabic & French with English subtitles
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Winner, Best First Film - 2004 Venice Film Festival
A few weeks before his college entrance exams, Réda (Nicolas Cazale), a young man who lives in the south of France, finds himself obligated to drive his father to Mecca. The wide cultural and generational gap between the two is worsened by their lack of communication. Réda finds it hard to accommodate his father, who demands respect for himself and his pilgrimage. From France, through Italy, Serbia, Turkey, Syria, Jordan to Saudi Arabia, the two embark on a road trip that will change their lives.
"...The characters are compelling and completely realistic, the acting is first-rate, and many scenes in this movie (which was shot in different countries, including Saudi Arabia) are breathtaking. Le Grand Voyage is undoubtedly one of the few features to film its central characters in Mecca in the middle of a hajj.
Made by Ismael Ferroukhi, a Moroccan-born director who has said that his movie is 'spiritual rather than religious or political...I wanted to make a film that was universal and accessible to everyone...It's a tribute to my parents and the 97% of Muslims that we never hear about in the Western world.' However one interprets Le Grand Voyage, the impression it leaves is unmistakable."
-San Francisco Chronicle
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