Cinema · A way to begin
The Cruel Sea
بس يا بحر
Khalid Al-Siddiq · 1972
Synopsis
Before oil, in a Kuwait still poor, Moussaed is the son of a diver whom the sea has crippled. His father forbids him to dive in his turn, but the young man needs money to marry Noura, who is promised to a richer suitor. The father gives in and lends him his equipment: Moussaed boards a dhow for the season and dives ever deeper, hoping for a pearl that would change his fate.
Context
The first fiction feature film from Kuwait, and the first by a Gulf director, the film brought Hayat Al-Fahad and Saad Al-Faraj to prominence; the latter wrote the screenplay with the director, Walaa Salah El-Din and Abdel-Rahman Saleh. In 1972 it received the international critics' prize at Venice, then prizes at Damascus and Tehran, and Kuwait submitted it for the Oscar for best foreign film. As the rights were never settled, it now circulates mostly in degraded copies put online.
Who it is for
A drama in Arabic lasting one hour forty-six minutes, with long scenes at sea; a copy with English subtitles can be found online.
Prizes and reception
Honoured by the critics gathered at Venice in 1972, it is considered the most acclaimed Gulf film abroad.
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