Wadjda (12) is a girl living in Riyadh. Her mother, who had a difficult labor, is in a strained relationship with her husband who wants to have more kids, and thus plans to marry another woman. Mother's official driver is very impolite. Wadjda is friends with Abdullah, a boy with a bicycle. Wadjda wants to buy a bicycle herself, despite the tradition which entails that girls are not allowed to have one, and thus, even though she was always uninterested during religious class, enlists into a Quran contest and wins the first prize, with money included. However, when Wadjda tells that she intends to buy a bicycle in front of the public, the teacher gives all her money to Palestine. The mother surprises Wadjda with a newly bought bicycle and the girl uses it to drive with Abdullah on the streets.
Excellent 'slice-of-life' drama "Wadjda" is not only the director Haifaa al-Mansour's first feature length film, but also the first feature length film in the history of Saudi Arabian cinema. Al-Mansour depicts the life in Saudi Arabia from the female perspective, with a sixth sense for the mentality of the area, unobtrusively delivering messages about injustice by showing how the girls are constantly stiffled while trying to live their lives by being told that they cannot do this or that, but the film also has a certain aura of sweet innocence and ends up as a celebration of life, anyway, with the final scene showing how the title heroine symbolically became "equal" with boy Abdullah and managed to achieve at least a small piece of happiness. A great support is the wonderful character of independent, sometimes even feisty heroine Wadjda, played refreshingly by Waad Mohammed, whose spirit also becomes the film's spirit.
"Wadjda" is directed in a minimalist manner, except for its surprisingly humorous moments which are sometimes unexpectedly tongue-in-cheek. In one scene, for instance, Abdullah and Wadjda are watching the poster of Abdullah's uncle, a politician, and they both comment how the uncle's moustache is so big that even "a falcon could land on them". In another, Abdullah mentions how a man strapped explosives and blew himself up: "Boom, 70 virgins in heaven!" Wadjda, who is interested in something else, just says: "Boom, 70 bicycles!" When Wadjda falls while trying to drive a bicycle on the roof, she goes: "Auch, I'm bleeding!", but her mother, who is behind the wall, is shocked: "Take care of your virginity!", causing Wadjda to clarify: "I'm bleeding from my knee!" The whole story is crafted in a remarkably elegant way, with several stylistic touches (in the opening during a choir in the school, after the teacher called her name, the camera shows two pair of shoes moving both left and right to reveal Wadjda's shoes in the middle, who takes a step forward), delivering a beautiful little film, a small cinematic miracle, with a smile.
Grade:+++
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