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Reviews
Karim (2007)
Unforgettable.
I'm not going to go into great depth here, just because I feel there are enough people already doing that. I will say that I really enjoyed this film - plain and simple.
When I spoke with the director after one of the screenings, he didn't seem overly thrilled with the outcome, but content nonetheless. I can't imagine the stress that comes with making a film dealing with heavy material like this. I think it's a testament to what he wants to do with his films, and I think he succeeded here.
Karim creates an atmosphere of tension, sadness and despair right from the beginning. A bleak film, which has little positivity in it. If anything, I would have liked to see something - even a glimmer of hope - in this story.
I think all the performances were pretty good, although the lead character did interest me most of all with his strong voice and emotion. It would have been nice to have seen more of the parents, but upon speaking with the director, he said he didn't include such scenes because he felt they took away focus and investment in Karim as a character, and complicated the story further - something he didn't feel right about doing when it came to a short. Upon viewing the scenes on his DVD, I think he made the right choice.
All in all, a great film and I look forward to seeing what this filmmaker does next!