In the catalogue all personnel at the EIFF get, Captain Abu Raed is noted as being the first Jordanian film in half a century, which is probably why the national flag flies in glorious slow-motion over the end credits. This is no over-patriotic love-in, however: the film follows Abu Raed (Nadim Sawalha), an elderly airport janitor who one day finds a discarded pilot’s cap and begins to wear it to the pleasure of the children in his neighbourhood. Not all the children around him are convinced of his tales of worldwide adventures, and one troubled youth from a broken home, Murad (Hussein Al-Sous), sets out to reveal the truth. Director Amin Matalqua has the good will to not let his story err on the wrong side of sentimentality, with a game supporting cast helping to supply a down-to-earth cynicism that keeps the tone levelled. Sawalha is superb in the lead, making the loveable Abu Raed flesh and bone, especially in the film’s final minutes where he fixes the audience with a wise, hundred-mile stare that really does say more than ten pages of dialogue really could. “He who chooses the humble life has guidance in his heart,” his character says earlier in the film, and this humble and initially unassuming film certainly has a lot of heart in it. (As a side note – I’m sure I heard sniffling at the press screening this morning. I really hope this film gets a general release as it could do great…) I meet Alex Orr of Blood Car fame in the Filmhouse just after the Captain Abu Raed screening and he was, like at his film’s Q A the night before, full of chat, telling me about how he was planning to stay in Scotland for the duration of the festival, leaving him with a chance to catch Radiohead live. Nice dude, he was telling me how he’s looking forward to all the “geeky” stuff the festival has to offer – including the retrospective of French actress Jeanne Moreau, which included a showing of The Lovers. It was my first time seeing it and it was a great watch – it was a beautiful old print, full of the little scratches and blips you’d expect, as well as the old pre-BBFC certificate screen. Well, I ended up heading home later today for tomorrow’s shift at work, but not before a hit at trying to get House of the Dead 4 working so that me and Carl could slay zombies… with uzis! Alas, the coin-op machine wouldn’t work and nothing happened. Gutted. Obviously, it’s been a busy day. I did find a Sega Saturn nearby going for £25 though! HIGHLIGHT.
