It is not often that a film about a girl on a bike makes headlines, but Wadjda deservedly does just that, although not necessarily for the quality of the acting, with the exception, I hasten to add, of Waad Mohammed’s performance in the title role. Judging this film on its acting performances would do it a huge disservice however and would completely miss the point of what this film is about and why it deserves huge respect.
Waad Mohammed plays, in a very natural and endearing way, a 10 year old who struggles with the strict routine at her girl’s school in Riyadh where day-to-day life is ruled by studies of the Koran and her efforts to defy authority in just the smallest ways – wearing her Converse trainers with her jeans and ditching her headscarf whenever she can – will not be tolerated and will result in severe rebukes from the head teacher. Her wish to be able to own and ride a bike and race it against her friend Abdullah is the ultimate act of, almost innocent, rebellion in a society where such behaviour by women is not accepted. Her obstinacy however knows no boundaries and in any possible way – including ironically enough, by taking part in and winning a Koran reciting school competition – she manages to collect the amount of money which enables her to purchase the bike. In her mother she has someone who has had to deal with, and accept, the harsh realities of womanhood in Saudi Arabia but also a companion who ultimately assists her with the acquisition of what enables her daughter to defy religious authority and the limitations of womanhood.
The production is the first full-length feature film directed by the Saudi-born female director Haifaa Al-Mansour and shot in the very orthodox Islamic and male-dominated society of Riyadh, where women do not leave the house uncovered and unveiled and young girls should never be seen playing in the schoolyard by men, let alone cycle around on a bike. Not surprisingly, shooting the film in this environment was never going to be easy and apparently the director had to do most of the shooting from the secluded space of a production van in order not to have to mix with her male actors and crew and be seen as a woman directing men. From there she would communicate with them by electronic means.
The film provides for some uncomfortable viewing at times in the way it portrays the way women are treated, already from a very young age onwards, and how they seem to resign themselves in and never – with the exception of Wadjda – question their role in society. That feeling of discomfort may at times almost cause the viewer to be judgmental or even disrespectful about this women-unfriendly society – which I have to confess it initially did with me – but you realise straightaway that would just be too easy a response and was never the intention of the director. The film actually handles the subject in an almost light-hearted way and is really at no point pedantic in its tone.
Towards the end of the film, when Wadjda has achieved her ambition to be the proud owner of the bike she has aspired to own and engages in the bicycle race with Abdullah whom she has managed to pull away from his male friends, you almost feel that could be a metaphor for a changing society in which girls can happily ride bicycles in the company of and in competition with men. But …that would be passing judgment which this film is not about. This film is the result of courage and determination and tells its inspirational story with a lot of charm and warmth. This is clearly the year in which young, driven girls – Wadjda in Saudi Arabia and Malala Yousafzai who recently spoke up against the Taliban for girls’ rights to education in Pakistan – make headways and we can not but be full of respect for that.
Wadjda was released in the UK 19th July 2013.
Director: Haifaa Al-Mansour
Writer: Haifaa Al-Mansour
Stars: Waad Mohammed, Reem Abdullah, Abdullrahman Al Gohani
Runtime: 1h 38min
Country: Saudi Arabia
Film Rating: 
