The challenges of diversity and gender in the world are potent today, not just in film circles, but also in real-life. For independent movies that are made outside the Hollywood model, there are added challenges for non-English speaking cultures that are doing everything to make themselves aware in the world.
With the recent Oscar success of PARASITE, perhaps there is a lot more on the way that will make people take notice and sit up and realize that stories can be as compelling and involving wherever they are shot in the world.
The brand-new German/Saudi Arabian co-production THE PERFECT CANDIDATE, co-written (with Brad Neimann) and directed by Haifaa Al-Mansour, is the story of Maryam (Mila Al Zahrani), a competent and sensitive doctor who works at a Saudi clinic, but has to deal with the age-old issue of sexual prejudice and misogyny in a consistently male-dominated mindset, demonstrated when the father of a local male, Omar (Tareq Al Khaldi), refuses to be examined by Maryam.
The clinic also is suffering due to a poor road outside the building where it is situated and nobody appears to have done anything about it.
Maryam lives at home with her two sisters, Sara and Selma (Dae Al Hilali and Nora Al Awadh), who make a living videoing local weddings, and her widowed father, Abdulaziz (Khalid Abdulraheem), a veteran musician and wedding singer who suddenly gets offered the chance to perform on a national tour.
An attempt to fly to Dubai for a doctor’s convention by Maryam is thwarted at the last minute because her paper permit has expired amidst an fully-electronic process. Angry and frustrated, she decides to visit Omar at his local council office but is denied access unless she fills out a form to apply to run for a council position as a candidate.
Omar is surprised by her desire to run for office, as are others after a poorly constructed campaign video which understandably draws cries of mirth and ignorance from the local community. However, Maryam becomes determined to show the world she inhabits a chance that she is more than just a competent doctor…..
Both in turn charming and knowing, THE PERFECT CANDIDATE is exactly the sort of film that taps in the Hollywood tradition of films like LEGALLY BLONDE and WORKING GIRL, stories about being able to empathise with the plight of women who are determined to stamp their authority on the world when others refuse to give them a chance.
The world Maryam inhabits would not feel any different to that to somebody travelling to Harvard or Manhattan from Staten Island – and lead actress Al Zahrani invests the right blend of appeal and smarts that make her a very watchable find whilst retaining an air of vulnerability as her campaign to run for office evolves in the course of the film.
The laughs and truths are familiar and involving and the supporting cast do their best to involve the audience in a very charming and enjoyable piece of comedy-drama.
Hopefully, PARASITE will awaken audiences to watching more films like this as well.
Nice.
