There are times when the only thing for it is to sit down with some tissues, and tea, and blankets, and feel some feelings. That thought crossed my mind many times this past month, and there are two movies that I think reckon with that human need pretty thoroughly. In very different ways. So in my second edition of Thibeau on Film, we take a look at them.

Bab’Aziz the Prince Who Contemplated his Soul: is a 2005 film by Tunisian director/writer Naser Khemir, and is the third film in the Desert Trilogy. This movie is desert heavy, it is lush with desert, it’s one of the main selling points as far as I am concerned. Filmed in Tunisia and Iran, the landscapes here are over the top breathtaking. A deep deep beauty. The entire movie is shatteringly beautiful, full of magic, delight, and profound joy. Not to lay it on too thick, but I really loved this thing. And the music! The singing; seriously transcendental vocal performances. Enchanting.

Bab’Aziz tells the story of a blind old dervish (of the same name) and his granddaughter traveling to a gathering in the desert. Maryam Hamid plays the granddaughter and her performance is remarkable! I loved her. As they travel he tells a tale of a Prince (the extremely hot Kaveh Khodashenas), who wanders away and sits staring into a pool of water. But as the granddaughter and grandfather travel they meet people along the way, who also tell their stories. And you have the tale of the journey. All layered. It’s really well done. It’s slippery to place in time, as it starts out feeling far in the past, then slowly the director drops little bits of modern life (a back-pack, a water bottle, later a plane.) Powerfully moving, if you’re willing to lock into some mystical stuff. Get down with some raw nights in the desert, and haunting melodies sung in voices that get into your soul.

In researching to try and get a context for Bab’Aziz, a sense of what impression it made when it first came out, I found mixed reviews, some said there is a sense that the director Khemir is presenting a fairy-tale version of the Islam world. Some found the movie to be “a fairy tale of Oriental Exotica”. Beautiful, certainly, but the focus on Sufi mysticism, and the structure of the narrative, which runs a little like The Thousand and One Nights, seemed a bit heavy handed. I get what they’re laying down there, but I argue it’s a real poem of a film. You can’t hold it’s beauty against it. It is a fairy tale, and a masterfully expressed one. It’s a love letter to sufism and the desert. New York Magazine said, “You’ll remember the dreamlike state the film induces long after the credits roll” and I’d say that is just what the doctor ordered for March in Maine.

August: Osage County: this 2013 movie by John Wells is based on the screenplay by Tracy Letts. It is a jam packed star studded affair and delivers a number of performances that sear the soul. If you’re a fan of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (which I just watched for the first time a few months ago, and man, what a picture! Elizabeth Taylor, a ten all around.) or Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolfe, then you will love this boozy family, gathering to bury one of their own, in the hot as an oven Oklahoma homestead. They go there. The things these people say to each other will curl your toes. It’s wild.

This movie is a lot. The sheer amount of acting going on does at moments overwhelm, and the bonkers family secrets that come tumbling out will make your head spin. But if you’re in the mood for some all the way to 11 drama, it’s a great ride. Sam Shepard (yeah he’s in it too), Margo Martindale (crazy about her in anything), there isn’t a bad player in the entire cast really. It is my favorite performance by Julia Roberts, who plays the eldest sister. This is a dressed down Julia, who is still luminous with beauty, but displays a iron strength I’ve not seen in her before. Then again with Meryl Streep loosing her absolute shit the entire movie, I’m guessing everyone felt the need to bring their A Game. Meryl plays Violet, the matriarch, who is addicted to prescription pills and is wildly bi-polar, among other things. Also Juliette Lewis is one of the sisters and she comes in with a more refined performance from her than I was used to, and I liked it, a lot. The one odd misfire was Benedict Cumberbatch, who was an unconvincing though amusing awkward cousin. I think he was terrified of Meryl and it affected him.

So there you have it, some heavy hitters to draw the spirits out of you, and exercise the feelings. Nothing shocks the soul like unabashed beauty and epic confrontations. I will have to seek out the first two films in Khemir’s Desert Trilogy. I also just need to watch everything Meryl Streep has been in after seeing Angels in America and Adaptation during the pandemic and remembering that she’s the best thing around. Happy viewing!