Movie review: ‘Theeb’ follows epic journey

Fans of “Lawrence of Arabia,” I have a film for you. Deliberate or not, Naji Abu Nowar’s adventure tale “Theeb,” Jordan’s entry in this year’s foreign language Academy Award race, comes across as a fascinating, parallel tale, closely related in time and subject matter to David Lean’s 1962 epic, a landmark effort that is easily one of the 10 best films ever made.

A coming-of-age film set in the Arabian desert in 1916, a time when the Ottoman Empire wreaked havoc upon the Bedouin nomadic tribes of the area, “Theeb” begins in earnest when its pre-adolescent hero Theeb (Jacir Eid Al-Hwietat) – a particularly watchful, shaggy-haired, recently orphaned boy whose name means “wolf” – more or less bluffs his way into accompanying beloved older brother Hussein (Hussein Salameh Al-Sweilhiyeen) on a perilous journey. Hussein is the guide of blond-haired British soldier Edward (Jack Fox). Edward has an Arab escort named Marji (Marji Audeh), and Edward has in his possession both a new Webley revolver and a mysterious small, wooden box.

Set in the Ottoman province of Hijaz, the film follows Theeb, Hussein, Marji and Edward, the latter three armed with rifles, as they traverse the canyons and wadis of the Arabian desert on camels in search of wells known to Hussein to stay alive and on a constant lookout for armed bandits.

An opening scene in which Hussein teaches Theeb to kill a goat is a fitting harbinger of the more senseless slaughter to come as Hussein and Theeb are attacked by desert warriors raiding their party. Pinned down on a cliff, where they have taken refuge, the two young men spend the night on guard, terrified by the taunts of their attackers and screams of jackals and hyenas.

Theeb is reminiscent of Daud and Farraj of “Lawrence of Arabia,” the Arab street boys and outcasts who volunteer to become Lawrence’s loyal servants in the film. Like Lean, director Nowar, who also co-wrote the screenplay, has notably John-Ford-like story-telling powers. “Theeb” which was shot on Super 16 mm with an anamorphic lens, seems much like a Western at times.

But Theeb, who endures several ordeals in the film, including falling into a well, is also a unique creation, and in the end the Arab boy must decide what the meaning of love and loyalty is in his all-too-brutal world.