Merzak Allouache a seasoned Algerian playwright and director portrays the quarrels, love affairs, and accidents in an Algerian family (and its rivals next door) soaked in background music in “Front Row”. By its name alone, this group dramedy let’s us be a fly on the wall on how the Bouderbalas relate to each other during one day at their local beach. Mrs. Zohra -Zohra for short- as well as her eldest child Rayan, the teenager Houria including her three young siblings are all early birds who have made it to the shoreline before anyone else so that they can secure a good vantage point of the ocean where they can play undisturbedly for some hours before being overtaken by human sea.
However, with beach lovers quickly filling up around them, there is disagreement over which group will occupy the front row between Kadouris and Bouderbalas. The people from Kadouri’s who look down upon their neighbors scornfully has sparked off territorial struggle over claiming this space which extended from mere distaste between opposing sides of two families who have had a longer past than just this “leisure” trip.
The sunny voyage will soon discover other hidden aspects: Zohra gets involved in an extramarital relationship with a wig-wearing and clown-like singer, Lounès (Idir Benaibouche), until her weary husband Mokhtar (Kader Affak) arrives to protect his masculinity. Meanwhile, Rayan is secretly wooing Souhila (Hanaa Mansour), the rival family daughter. The storyline occasionally shifts to a beach attendant Hakim (Nabil Asli) whose occupation involves taking money for renting of tables and umbrellas. These conflicts and altercations are depicted through social realistic handheld style that does not draw attention to itself.
Amongst this ensemble of actors, some deliver performances that tend towards farce; they exaggerate their facial expressions, body language and overreact to situations (L’Ange 124). This is particularly evident among the older members of the cast while young adults and children have a more naturalistic register. Evidently, Allouache’s choice of different tones in acting regarding the generation shows his intent to depict adults as childishly unreasonable in their reactionary attitudes and persistent disputes. Common sense resides in their children who happen to be good friends but are subjected to adult caprices and mistrusts since all these families have spent generations on one block together.
Allouache stages various misadventures in a happening plot, many of which are so mundane that they could just be familiar across continents (a Bouderbala kid wanders off, a cell phone is stolen) and others specific to the Algerian context like one of the Kadouri tribe members carrying his religious gown and prayer rug. Though “Front Row” moves along with an enjoyable pace and may get one or two giggles, it does not really explain to us who these people are. The experience of watching Allouache’s film feels akin to tuning in to a random episode of a popular sitcom, knowing this is just a glimpse of a larger world. Shooting only with natural light, Allouache and cinematographer Mohamed Tayeb Laggoune depict convincingly how the sun slides across the sky as the story progresses, with latter scenes suffused by softness of afternoon glow.
The gender inequality of this society, which is still governed by patriarchal norms, becomes apparent in the way young girls are treated in these tribes. Her siblings splash around on the beach as Houria has to prepare a whole meal from scratch for everyone. The injustice isn’t overlooked but Zohra doesn’t take it seriously trivializing it as “the way things are” that gives her no space for argumentation. On her part Souhila cannot swim because her dad thinks that she will be ogled by other boys despite her wearing clothes that cloak every part of her body. She now has to rely on sneaky texts and distant flirting with Rayan. They can only breathe at those moments when their parents’ eyes are not on them. This shows how deeply rooted these restrictions are within the society such that even during a day set aside for fun, they have to be implemented; however, the fact that younger generations resist them is also indicative of something else.
Towards the end, an altercation becomes comedically violent bringing hostility that had been building up to a boil and ends with parents from both families being taken by police for their unruly behavior. The result of this reprimand is mainly positive. It should be noted that “Front Row” provides a different kind of emotionally lighter and lower-stakes storytelling than those witnessed on Western screens from the country in North Africa (well at least just before it suddenly takes a more serious twist involving Rayan and Souhila). Most notable Algerian film titles at major festivals tend to be serious, hard-hitting ones. Consequently, this tale about everyday family quarrels stands out as unusually lighthearted.
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