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Headbang Lullaby review [Berlinale]: Dir. Hicham Lasri (2017)

Headbang Lullaby review: Casablanca, 1986. A government official is tasked to stand guard on a bridge that divides two hostile villages on the outskirts of the city as it awaits the potential arrival of King Hassan II.

Headbang Lullaby review by Paul Heath at the 2017 Berlin Film Festival.

Headbang Lullaby review

Headbang Lullaby review

Headbang Lullaby is a trippy drama from Morocco (a co-production with France, Qatar and Lebanon), set just after the country celebrated an historic victory over Portugal in the world cup finals of 1986 in Mexico. Morocco beat Portugal by three goals to one, a result which topped their group above England, and propelled them to the next round (where they were then knocked out of the tournament by West Germany). However, in the days that followed, the country discovered a new-found confidence, and Hicham Lasri’s new film kicks off with the football match on 1986, before taking us on a psychedelic journey and examination of his country’s history. This is done through main protagonist Daoud (Aziz Hattab), a government official tasked with securing a bridge just outside Casablanca which divides two hostile communities.

Daoud is placed to await the pending, potential arrival of King Hassan II, who may or may cross said bridge in the very near future. Encountering several characters, including a wandering foreign woman and a football-mad young boy as he stands on his post, Daoud struggles with his inner demons, some of which are because of the infamous Moroccan bread riots five years previous, where we discover he was badly injured. Over the course of the time period that he’s on the bridge, Daoud is slowly transformed by the inhabitants in both villages.

Headbang Lullaby review

There’s no denying that Headbang Lullaby is superbly constructed, from its sun-drenched visuals and kinetic camera moves, to its vivid colour pallet and interesting editing style, but I must admit that I struggled to grasp and engage with the film, pretty much from the off. It’s extremely difficult to follow, the narrative jumping all over the place like it is one over-long dream sequence. While elements of the film are enjoyable and you kind of get what the filmmaker is trying to achieve, I can’t say that I was riveted, engaged or engrossed in the film at any point. It’s extremely easy for the viewer to get lost, and I will admit that I did more than once.

The acting talent is, however, of a superior standard, particularly Aziz Hattab in the lead as Daoud, but his focussed energy is lost in the current of the over-stylised visual hurricane in which Headbang Lullaby is presented. Some may appreciate it for what it is, but I was reaching for the paracetamol as soon as the credits rolled.

Headbang Lullaby review by Paul Heath, February 2017.

Headbang Lullaby plays at the 2017 Berlin Film Festival in the Panorama section.

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