Captivating movie

A hundred minutes of a slow yet captivating story of a Jordan we did not know of before or study in our school curriculums is the experience that “Theeb” brings to the viewer.

The writer and the editor of the movie have both redefined the Jordanian desert and undocumented history in a simple manner.

They tell the story of the “redskins” of Jordan without a plot, rather, leaving the viewer with an open end to ponder life.

In fact, the movie starts after it ends, when viewers start to recall all the scenes and the few words pronounced as short conversations or poems, and find brilliance in a movie that lends itself to interpretation by each viewer.

The eagle in the sky, the narrow path etched in between large boulders, wells in the desert, “fired bread”, bare feet walking the sand, a bedouin giving his word and keeping a promise, a tribe’s symbol, the Hijaz Railway, the look in Theeb’s eyes, flies on fresh blood, echoes in a valley, Turkish castles, reading stars in the sky, camels running like horses, all with no affiliation but to the desert.

Theeb is originally from Jordan, and he is the past and the future of this country.

He is unique and smart, brave and grounded, and if I try to imagine him living among now, he would be a determined Arab Jordanian Nabataean embodying a character we yearn for.

We all have to support
filmmaking and production as part of a genuine and meaningful loyalty to this country and its tourism industry.

King Abdullah Fund for Development did an admirable job in supporting this movie, taking unique and innovative avenues, distinguishing them from traditional development and the constant of repeating ourselves.

Hazem Tarawneh,
Amman