A thief on the run hides his stash on a hillock with a distinctive tree minutes before being nabbed. Upon his release from prison, the thie...
A thief on the run hides his stash on a hillock with a distinctive tree minutes before being nabbed. Upon his release from prison, the thief returns to the spot to find that it has become a mausoleum dedicated to an “unknown saint”.
A minor economy has sprung up around the shrine, which delays the thief’s repeated attempts to retrieve the booty. As he impatiently waits, director Alla Edine-Aljem rolls out a series of sub-plots and character sketches.
An elderly farmer in a neighbouring drought-struck village is refusing to relocate despite his son’s pleadings. The village where the mausoleum is located has a barber who doubles up as a dentist, an enthusiastic security guard who dotes on his German shepherd, and a movie star-handsome new doctor who becomes the latest pastime of the local elderly women.
The Moroccan comedy, which was premiered at Cannes Film Festival in 2019, is out on Netflix. At times recalling Palestinian director Elia Suleiman’s films in its use of laconic characters, droll humour and frontal camerawork, The Unknown Saint is an entertaining and whimsical look at worldly desires and miracles wrought by humans.
The barebones nature of the plot complements the stark locations, which are beautifully lensed by Amine Berrada. The series of...
