The Upcoming
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Cinema & Tv
      • Movie reviews
      • Film festivals
      • Shows
    • Food & Drinks
      • News & Features
      • Restaurant & bar reviews
      • Interviews & Recipes
    • Literature
    • Music
      • Live music
    • Theatre
  • Fashion & Lifestyle
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
  • What’s On
    • Art exhibitions
    • Theatre shows
  • Tickets
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Interviews
  • Competitions
  • Special events
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

London Film Festival 2015

Dégradé

London Film Festival 2015: Dégradé| Review
17 October 2015
Melissa Hoban
Avatar
Melissa Hoban
17 October 2015

Movie and show review

Melissa Hoban

Dégradé

★★★★★

Links

FacebookWebsite

Special event

For a film set in Gaza with an all-female cast, showing the preservation of life during war, the expectations were high: expectations that Dégradé falls slightly short of meeting, perhaps.

The film finds a group of women trapped inside a salon by the men of their neighbourhood as they wage war on the streets outside. Whilst the film depicts the struggle for normalcy of life in a warzone, the real battles are those within, for the preservation of day to day troubles within a country besieged by gunfire. The cast includes a bride to be (Dina Shebar) struggling with her tumultuous relationship with her mother in law; two friends trying to connect despite their differences, one a liberal, drug-using rule breaker (Manal Awad), the other a devout religious follower; and a lady (Hiam Abass) on the brink of divorce, battling to save her youth. They are overseen by the salon owners, a woman from Russia who sees the hardships in Gaza as being better than her life before, and her assistant stylist (Maisa Abd Elhadi) who is embroiled in a troubled relationship with one of the rebel fighters outside.

There are some predictable storylines here, but beyond that there are some great performances that carry the script’s shortcomings. Maisa’s study of the conflicted assistant, fierce in the face of her domestic abuse yet submissive to passionate love, is commendable. Abass gives a spectacularly believable performance as the aged hound dog chasing the prey of youth – not unexpected from the renowned Palestinian actress. Awad provides humour within the exhaustingly hopeless atmosphere of the salon as her carefree, liberal character pokes fun at the militant resistance, listing off the multiple rebel factions in a manner reminiscent of the People’s Front of Judea in Life of Brian.

It is a brave piece of cinema, though one can’t help feel a tad frustrated at it for falling short of the mark. It would have been nice to see the characters’ stories come together and affect each other, rather than just existing in the same claustrophobic space, which the directors fail to use to its full potential in the shots they provide. Nevertheless, Tarzan and Arab Nasser’s directing debut is an intelligent international tale ticking all the boxes of love, jealousy, despair and humour.

★★★★★

Melissa Hoban

Dégradé does not have a UK release date yet.

For further information about the 59th London Film Festival visit here, and for more of our coverage visit here.

Watch the trailer for Dégradé here:

Please accept YouTube cookies to play this video. By accepting you will be accessing content from YouTube, a service provided by an external third party.

YouTube privacy policy

If you accept this notice, your choice will be saved and the page will refresh.

Related ItemsDégradéLFF 2015review

More in Film festivals

Petite Maman

★★★★★
Joseph Owen
Read More

Daniel Brühl on his directorial debut Next Door: “It was magical; I didn’t get a ‘no’ from anyone.”

Selina Sondermann
Read More

Introduction (Inteurodeoksyeon)

★★★★★
Joseph Owen
Read More

Azor

★★★★★
Oliver Johnston
Read More

Night Raiders

★★★★★
Oliver Johnston
Read More

Big vs Small

★★★★★
Andrew Murray
Read More

No táxi do Jack (Jack’s Ride): An interview with director Susana Nobre

Ezelle Alblas
Read More

The Scary of Sixty-First

★★★★★
Joseph Owen
Read More

Social Hygiene (Hygiène sociale)

★★★★★
Joseph Owen
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Movie and show review

Melissa Hoban

Dégradé

★★★★★

Links

FacebookWebsite

Special event

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Maximo Park – Nature Always Wins
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • I’m Your Man (Ich bin dein Mensch)
    ★★★★★
    Berlinale
  • Black Bear
    ★★★★★
    Film festivals
  • Your Honor
    ★★★★★
    sky
  • Spotlight: Lauren Everet and Soup Kitchen London, striving for food security and social equality
    Food & Drinks
  • Petite Maman
    ★★★★★
    Berlinale
  • Celebrate International Women’s Day with a Bombay Sapphire Cocktails & Create masterclass
    Food & Drinks
  • Postdata – Twin Flames
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Late Night Staring at High Res Pixels
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Daniel Brühl on his directorial debut Next Door: “It was magical; I didn’t get a ‘no’ from anyone.”
    Berlinale
  • Moxie
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Souad
    ★★★★★
    Berlinale
  • We (Nous)
    ★★★★★
    Berlinale
  • Bicep at Saatchi Gallery Online
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • The Winter Lake
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

London Film Festival 2015: Exotica, Erotica, Etc | Review
London Film Festival 2015: Babai (Father) | Review