Moroccan film, brilliantly powerful, about life of the streets for three young abandoned/runaway boys who wish to honor their dead friend by giving him a proper burial. This is not Humphrey Bogart's Casablanca; this is quite a bleak life for these kids. They sniff glue and try not to rejoin a brutal gang they want no part of. They try to avoid being raped... but sometimes it happens. Yet they have the will to survive. Depressing as it might be, the movie still has warmth and is extremely engaging. The boys' performances are out of this world good and the cinematography drew me in and never let me go. I do hope I will be watching this one again one day.8.3 / 10 stars--Zoooma, a Kat Pirate Screener

When I hear some petulant tot in the Safeway market candy section whining because he can't have two candy bars, I want to plop the spoiled child in front of this film for about five minutes, which would be quite enough.Director Ayouch mixes elements of children's stark gang life in modern day Casablanca with the hallucinatory dreams they have, and he creates a harsh and vivid tale built around three close pals who decide they must give their most recently murdered friend a decent burial--he was, after all their Prince, their leader, their compatriot. This may not sound like the stuff movie dreams are made of, and its not exactly a cheerer-upper, but the young actors are astoundingly real--and sometimes quite funny--and the willing viewer can be transported to another world within a world unlike anything you might find in IowaThis is memorable film-making, examining a particular time and place-- in this case the Middle East--for it's universal elements; it isn't anywhere near the sweetness and light of The Sound of Music, but is perhaps a more honest immersion in human behavior.

Life sometimes is a four-letter word. (More often than not.) The "enfant ensemble" in ALI ZAOUA couldn't be more perfectly cast (in view of the facts, in fact, better casting would be literally impossible). The nighttime musings of these kids as they drift off to sleep in the movie says it all: "When I'm dead, I'll be filthy rich." As mentioned elsewhere in these comments, I used to drive a cab. One night, I picked up a woman and three kids and took them from a very, very dangerous neighborhood to a slightly less lethal locale. The woman asked me to wait and left the kids in the cab with me as she ducked into a house. I waited (somewhat impatiently) and listened to the kids talking in the seat behind me. They spoke in awed whispers. "What does it look like?" "It's big- about this big." "What's it taste like?" "You'll see." I found myself grinding my teeth in anger. The woman emerged from the house and asked me if I could just wait a minute longer, that "he" was "on his way." I reluctantly agreed, but vowed that I would take my dispatcher to task for sending me on yet another drug run. The next thing I know, a pizza delivery driver pulls up. The woman rushes to him, pays him for two pizzas, and climbs back into the cab with them. I drive her back to her own neighborhood and ask her why she had the pizza delivered to another neighborhood. "Because the pizza guys won't deliver in our neighborhood." There are times, I swear, when it all gets to me. If you get a chance, see ALI ZAOUA and see what I mean.

One of the most beautiful and moving movies I have ever watched! Magnificently directed and acted plus a superb plot. Should have been nominated and should have won an Academy Award. Believe me when I tell you few movies will leave you as shocked and sensitive as this one.