Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: THE DAM [Cannes Film Festival 2022]
The notion of a cage versus enlightenment depends on the life one lives and the geography or politics that surround him and her. With Maher Al Khair who plays a bricklayer in "The Dam" [Director's Fortnight], he lives a life that is unusual but dedicated to work. He seems to have a texture of spirituality while he is stuck in a life or just getting by. The dam he works near provides power it seems through his part of Sudan where the story is based. The director (Ali Cherri) apparently met Al Khair while he was there for other work and came up with this story. Alot of it speaks to the inevitability of life in building structures that only come crashing down. The themes also speak to the resiliency in challenging spaces that obvioiusly are normality. Mortality also plays a part in the proceedings even though there is literally very little Al Khair in his character can do against the structure of nature.
The aspect of water and mud is used as a repetitive aspect in terms of rebirth but also the bleakness of the land. But again the reality is that it is reflected as normal in his eyes. Al Khair never betrays his emotion except at one point but his texture of life is about that acceptance. There is a supernatural angle that is barely acknowledged but always percolating and almost not ackwoledged. Yet these interactions betray the questions in the stoic Al Khair's head. These thoughts push him along even though these voices might not be acting in his best interests. A subplot about family seems to be undone in certain ways and left along the wayside but the brutality of the environment still lingers beneath the surface. The texture is not reflected in wildlife but more in the idea that the land will consume itself and those in it. It is just a matter of time. While this is a regional story, the idea of ambition versus helplessness and being under the thumb of forces one cannot control continues to be part of life. B
By Tim Wassberg
