He has written for The New York Times, Variety, Film Comment, The Village Voice, Interview, Cineaste and other publications. Here, it almost seems like the Dardennes are asking what a modern, western, secular society like Belgium—with all its skills, tolerance and science—can do to reform a fanatical miscreant like Ahmed. Though it’s hard to imagine Bresson dealing with a Muslim protagonist, “Young Ahmed” has points in common with “The Devil, Probably” and other Bressonian tales of spiritual despair. Yet it’s the vision of the entire film which makes that world so immediate and affecting. From its beginnings, the Dardennes’ work has evoked comparisons to the films of Robert Bresson, in which a stripped-down, all but minimalist aesthetic is put in service of stories that convey the director’s austere Catholicism. : On the Many Faces of Frankenstein. A Belgian teenager hatches a plot to kill his teacher after embracing an extremist interpretation of the Quran. So one day he shows up at her apartment determined to dispatch her, but he botches the deed and is quickly arrested. What is the Plot of Young Ahmed? Godfrey Cheshire is a film critic, journalist and filmmaker based in New York City. [4] It was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. Ahmed is arrested and sent to juvenile detention, where he claims to be a reformed character. 6.99 $ – 20.00 $ A Belgian teenager hatches a plot to kill his teacher after embracing an extremist interpretation of the Quran. The implicit answer: Not much. Hints are dropped, and perhaps Young Ahmed is a story best served by hints: Exposition would surely drag the work in the opposite direction, and overcook the whole plot. Enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing Young Ahmed near you. The Dardenne brothers have created a rigorous portrait of a young Muslim whose religious journey illustrates the shadow side of zeal. A teen, embracing an extremist interpretation of the Quran, hatches a plot to kill his teacher. [8], "Cannes festival 2019: full list of films", "Bong Joon-ho's Parasite wins Palme d'Or at Cannes film festival", "Roman Polanski's 'An Officer And A Spy' tops César nominations", "Les Misérables domine les nominations pour les Lumières", "Découvrez le palmarès complet de la 10e cérémonie des Magritte du cinéma", "This Year's Seminci Golden Spike Is Bound for Mongolia", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Young_Ahmed&oldid=1003570052, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 29 January 2021, at 16:43. Winner of Best Director at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, Young Ahmed follows the titular character as he plots to kill his teacher over what he perceives to be her heretic behavior. A happy family this is not, and in a certain light, its most significant member may be the absent father. 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