Rebel (2022)
Genre: Drama / Thriller
Duration: 135 minuten
Country:
Belgium / Luxembourg / France
Directed by: Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah
Stars: Aboubakr Bensaïhi, Lubna Azabal and Amir El Arbi
IMDb score:
7,3 (3.065)
Releasedate: 31 August 2022
Rebel plot
"He must fight for his future."
Determined to improve his life, Kamal exchanges Belgium for Syria to help war victims. On arrival, however, he is forced into the army and stranded in Raqqa. Meanwhile, his younger brother Nassim falls prey to radicalists at home. Their mother Leila wants to prevent Nassim from following in Kamal's footsteps at all costs.
Actors and actresses
Kamal
Leila
Noor
Nassim
Abu Amar
Iman Yusuf
Idriss
Abdullah
Ibrahim
Hind
Reviews & comments
mrklm
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- 12190 messages
- 10362 votes
When IS publishes a propaganda film on YouTube in which Kamal Wasaki [Aboubakr Bensaihi], from Molenbeek in Brussels, executes a soldier, it has major consequences for his mother [Lubna Azabal] and his 13-year-old brother Nassimi [Amir El Arbi]. This unparalleled, breathtaking and extraordinarily moving combination of social drama and war film jumps back and forth between 2013 and 2015 to show how a moderate, beloved Brussels Muslim youth could end up in this harrowing situation. Scenario, direction, camera and acting, editing and sound are absolutely perfect. But the most striking are the songs by composer Hannes de Maeyer and lyricist Oum, who address the four most important persons (the fourth is Noor [Tara Abboud], who is given to Kamal as a slave) and their dilemmas (not yet referred to as superlative) manner. You will not easily find a better film on this theme.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Fisico
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- 10039 messages
- 5398 votes
In my opinion the best of the duo El Arbi and Fallah. A daring film also considering the subject matter. I was quite curious about the movie. Opinions in the press therefore differ, but are mainly positive. Het Nieuwsblad, for example, which appeals to a broad audience, scored a 4/5; the qualitative (sister) newspaper De Standaard kept it at a 2/5. I usually follow the latter, but not with Rebel.
I suspect that the duo had a decent budget available by our standards to make this production, but I am very impressed how cleverly they have used this to provide the film with the necessary effects. As always very flashy and with a solid pace as if you are on a rollercoaster. That is no different in Patser or Black, for example, when a certain (cultural) subgroup was highlighted. So technically high-quality, with the soundtrack and editing also achieving great results. It takes some getting used to when the film opens and therefore ends with rapping main characters looking straight into the camera. But also in between, for example when Noor is "loaned". They were true video clips, but pretty cleverly woven into the rest of the plot. Those clips had a morally critical message for the viewer.
In terms of content, Rebel was also strong, looking back alternately at life in Molenbeek and locally in Raqqa. As the film progresses, Nassim's character develops further. The film alternates between the genre 'drama' and 'war'. A hard raw film at times, emotionally too. A film that still resonates. I can hardly place the biggest criticism of De Standaard, which said that Al Belgiki is considered too high a victim content. I don't know. For the rest: great!
Translated from Dutch · View original
Film Pegasus (moderator films)
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- 31272 messages
- 5512 votes
Adil & Billal score again with Rebel, a very impressive film about radicalization that shows both the harshness of the war in Syria, but also opens the story to find an explanation of how it could have come to this. Without identifying 1 culprit in black and white. Inspired by real story and even the testimony of someone who experienced it themselves. It gives this dramatic story more depth. And that makes the war even harder.
In the lead role we see Aboubakr Bensaihi (born and raised in Molenbeek) who also played the lead role in Black, the film that Adil & Billal made in 2015 and became really famous. And his mother is also a well-known face: Lubna Azabel, who already received the necessary (deserved) awards for her role in Incendies by Denis Villeneuve.
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