Monsieur Ibrahim

Paris, the sixties. Momo is sixteen and lives with his father, who barely speaks to him and, when he does, compares him with his dead brother. Momo does his shopping at the grocer on the corner and steals from it now and then. Monsieur Ibrahim sees this and says nothing. In time the two begin to talk. Monsieur Ibrahim came from Turkey, is Muslim and old; Momo is Jewish and alone. In the end they set off together. François Dupeyron directs. Omar Sharif plays Monsieur Ibrahim and Pierre Boulanger plays Momo. The source is Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt's short novel. Omar Sharif won the César for best actor for this part; he had not had a large role for a long time before it. The relationship the narrative builds proceeds through habit rather than religion; the two do not explain belief to each other, they spend time together. The street the film takes place on was a genuinely mixed quarter in the Paris of the period, and the narrative builds it in detail. The journey in the last section was shot in Turkey, and the film's register changes there. Its limit is optimism; the narrative leaves conflict largely outside. Who it is for: viewers who like quiet French drama and Omar Sharif. Who it is not for: the register turns fable-like in places, the second half hurries, and the characters are idealised.