"I want to go out in
the street, naked, barefoot, to run without being stopped, to scream and
shout out loud." - a servant in the palace
Assimilated into the
Turkish Ottoman Empire in the 16th century, Tunisia became a French protectorate
in 1881 until President Habib Bourguiba, leader of a two-year guerilla
war for independence, declared Tunisia a republic in 1957, ending the rule
of the former Ottoman Beys. Winner of the Cannes Jury Prize in 1994, Tunisian
director Moufid Tlatli's Silences of the Palace depicts the oppressive
nature of the male-dominated palaces and the price that women servants
had to pay. Required not only to cook and clean, but to serve the sexual
needs of the princes, Silences shows the consequences in the lives of two
strong-minded but vulnerable women: Khedija (Amel Hedhili) and her young
daughter Alia (Hend Sabri).
The film opens in the
1960s. Alia (Ghalia Lacroix), is now 25 and performing as a night club
singer. Though she is nominally free, she is beholden to a man who refuses
to marry or have children. When she learns of the death of Prince Sidi
Ali (Kamel Fazaa) she returns to the palace in which she grew up to pay
a condolence call to Ali's near-blind widow (Najia Ouerghi), a visit that
opens the floodgates of memories. Told in flashbacks, the film shows Alia
as a pre-adolescent becoming increasingly aware of her own body and sadly,
of her mother's true role in the palace. Alia is a gifted singer and the
musical numbers in the film are hauntingly beautiful but nothing can hide
the torment the young girl faces in trying to find out who her father is
and to sort out where she belongs. The performance of Ms. Sabri is wondrous
as she conveys the confusion of coming of age in a non-nurturing environment
while still maintaining her charm and enchanting us with her songs.
Tlatli, in her first feature
film, never shoots outside of the palace interior, conveying the sense
of oppression and isolation though the servants listen on the radio to
news about the growing struggle for independence. The women are strong
and resilient, however, in spite of what they must face each day. Though
Khedija tries to protect her daughter from the same fate she suffers, she
knows that her power is limited. "If a man touches you, run away,'' she
tells her, "Your place is with me in the kitchen." When Alia suggests that
they both leave together, her mother can only respond "Where would we go?
This is the only home I've ever known." While Tlatli bravely challenges
the institutions that led to male dominance, there is a tone of resignation
and acceptance in the silences that suggests the subservient role many
women play in Moslem countries to this day. Silences of the Palace is a
lovely film that left me with a sense of aching loss.
GRADE: A-
Howard
Schumann