QUICK’N DIRTY: LIVE FROM BERLIN

Lilia (Eya Bouteraa) is a 32-year-old engineer living in Paris with her girlfriend Alice (Marion Barbeau), a beautiful and loving French woman of around her age. She returns to the place where she was born and raised with her partner in order to attend the funeral of her uncle Mohammad-Aly (nicknamed “Daly”), who died naked and under mysterious circumstances, A middle-aged man desperately howls Daly’s name outside the family house. The knowledge that Daly was gay is widespread, yet not a single family member dares to spell out that their relative was a homosexual. Except for Lilia.

The police are also very timid with their vocabulary, and with the investigation. They describe Daly’s “unusual inclinations”, and hesitate to ask the most basic questions that could help to solve the possible crime: was Daly in a relationship? Was he sexually active? Did he have any disgruntled lovers? These simple interrogations are entirely off-limits in a religious country where homosexuality is still illegal. Article 230 mandates that same-sex activity is punishable with a custodial sentence. The police still practise anal examinations in order to establish whether a male has engaged in “untoward” penetration (this “test” has become the butt of jokes in gay-friendly Brazil). Lesbians have it a little easier: they just aren’t taken too seriously (the perceived absence of penetration makes lady-on-lady love more acceptable, it is presumed).

Lilia’s enormous family is under the purview of a formidable grandma. The matriarch likes to control every aspect of the lives of her descendants, and to interfere in every major life decision they have to make. Sshe has abundant advice on marriage, and the obligation of conceiving children. It is thanks to her that Daly weds a middle-aged woman and settles for a very unhappy life. Lilia’s mother (played to excellence by Hiam Abbass, with sharp and stabbing eyes) is morally ambiguous. She claims to have supoprted her brother’s sexual orientation throughout his life, yet she seems to have an issue with the possibility that her daughter may have inhered his homosexual genes.

The large family rarely agreed on anything. Grandma is always prepared to throw an epic fit in order to control the situation (the passing of her son becomes the perfect excuse for just about anything). A happy-go-lucky aunt is more concerned with making mojitos than wiht the death of her brother. A cocky cousin finds pleasure in insulting homosexuals. Three women scramble to evict a little bird that made its way into one of the bedrooms, in a scene that comes to represent the family’s inability to unite, however small and trivial the task.

With a duration of nearly two hours, In a Whisper provides some interesting insight into the cultural divide between France and Tunisia, the two countries signing this international co-production. Tunisians are prepared to speak French, dress European attire and drink alcohol, however they are far less inclined to accept homosexuality. The prospect that Lilia and Alice could have a child is unfathomable. The portrayal of an LGBT+ bar and characters (including a trans woman) is courageous, if barely innovative. The lesbian sex scene is necessary, however uninspiring. This is a movie that doesn’t show anything we haven’t seen, and doesn’t reveal anything we already know. The excess of inconclusive subplots prevents the film from reaching its full potential. The outcome is a loosely multilayered blend of LGBT+ and family drama. Credible and heartfelt, however mostly unmemorable.

In a Whisper just premiered in the Official Competition of the 76th Berlinale.