Theeb

Theeb is a Bedouin boy growing up in the small world of his clan, isolated from elsewhere by desert.

One night two strangers arrive at the camp, a British officer and his Arab guide.  They seek help to find a specific well on the old pilgrim route to Mecca. In accordance with Bedouin courtesy, Theeb's elder brother is assigned to guide the strangers and Theeb tags along. This gives the boy a ring side seat to a small and deadly drama on the fringe of General Allenby's campaign against the Ottoman Empire during World War I and the Arab Revolt.

Seeing the conflict from the point of view of an accidentally involved little boy gives a naive detached view of this aspect of the Great War, that shows the war as a foreign thing (from a Bedouin perspective) and also a glimpse into the perhaps greater changes to the Bedouin economy brought about by modern technology.

This film has been described as a Bedouin western, and given the desert vistas and the gun fight you can see why. But this is very much a child's view of a world he doesn't understand.

Ian's rating 4/5 Anne's rating 4/5