Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: THE ALLEYS [Locarno Film Festival 2021 - Virtual]
Creating a street crime culture representative of life and making it global without crossing certain lines is the interesting construct of "The Alleys", an interesting crime allegory film made in Jordan with the support of the Red Sea Film Festival and the Doha Institute. Having attended the Doha Film Festival in the past, it is interesting watching this kind of story unfold on film telling a story in the region. The characters are plagued by their own shortcomings but their reasoning , no matter how unsavory, is motivated by the greater good in their, even if they make bad decisions that completely unravel the fabric of their existence. Life is transactional in The Alleys where people go about their business. They live and die. They have aspirations. They want revenge. They want love. Some of the characters get little vignette backstories, two of which could make films unto themselves, though they end up being secondary characters to this story. The film is fairly based in an almost Romeo & Juliet story but not quite.
Ali, a streetwise hustler who lies too everyone he knows to to feed his ego and get ahead simply digs a hole in a way he can't escape from, especially when it comes to Lana, a girl he is in love with. Local customs and social norms create a vacuum that block his ambitions to operate in the way he wants to exist. Actions are put in play by Lane's mother (again a bigger story there and her ex-husband has similarities to Ali in certain ways). Overarching the entire proceedings, there is a crime lord that reigns over the entire Alleys area. It might sound very particular to the area and this is true but it has resonance because it tells a story "Goodfellas" or "The Grifters" would show. The interesting aspect that happens is in the switch of who or what becomes the player. In this way, "The Alleys" handles its structure quite well in showing the circle of life and what ambition does in certain way. There is always another opportunity around the corner, maybe not for you but for someone you might not expect. "The Godfather" knew this inherently as well. B
By Tim Wassberg
