In 'Amra and the Second Marriage' Amra, a middle-aged Saudi housewife, has an existence which Westerners may imagine is the norm for Saudi women: she keeps house and cooks for her husband, looks after her sick mother, attends sermons that describe women as 'the firewood in Hell' and endures the constant barracking of her mother-in-law. Even her three daughters treat her like a drudge. But she is secure in her life, until her mother-in-law - always critical of Amra's failure to provide a son - announces she has arranged for Amra's husband to take a second - younger and more attractive - wife. When Amra does not attend the bridal shower, she is ostracised by her (female) friends, but does not let that stop her in her efforts to prevent the marriage.
My understanding of Saudi Arabia is that it is a very authoritarian country - particularly where women are concerned. Yet Amra seems to get away with an awful lot - even an incident involving her mother-in-law and a blowtorch seems not to result in legal sanction, as one might expect. Adding to the viewer's sense of dissatisfaction, some things in the film are unexplained - for instance, when Amra meets four bio-hazard suited men on the beach, are they a dream - or really there? And if the latter, what are they doing there anyway?
Aishaima'a Tayeb provides a likeable heroine, and there is a nice comic supporting turn from the actress (regrettably I do not know her name) who plays Amra's friend Sara, producing spells to stop the marriage. I will not reveal the ending, but it suggests that what Amra faces in the final scene is punishment for her actions in trying to maintain - even improve - her own situation. And that is disappointing.
My understanding of Saudi Arabia is that it is a very authoritarian country - particularly where women are concerned. Yet Amra seems to get away with an awful lot - even an incident involving her mother-in-law and a blowtorch seems not to result in legal sanction, as one might expect. Adding to the viewer's sense of dissatisfaction, some things in the film are unexplained - for instance, when Amra meets four bio-hazard suited men on the beach, are they a dream - or really there? And if the latter, what are they doing there anyway?
Aishaima'a Tayeb provides a likeable heroine, and there is a nice comic supporting turn from the actress (regrettably I do not know her name) who plays Amra's friend Sara, producing spells to stop the marriage. I will not reveal the ending, but it suggests that what Amra faces in the final scene is punishment for her actions in trying to maintain - even improve - her own situation. And that is disappointing.