The Capital Times
Reviewed by: Rob Thomas

In his latest film, writer-director Nacer Khemir unwittingly tempts fate by naming one of the characters Ishtar, which may remind some moviegoers of the notorious 1986 Warren Beatty/Dustin Hoffman flop of the same name. It’s like calling one of your characters “Gigli.”

But Khemir avoids any sort of jinx with the luminous and bewitching “Bab’Aziz — The Prince Who Contemplated His Soul.” Although at times difficult to follow narratively, the visual poetry and deep spiritualism of the film keep the audience involved.
Ishtar (the winning young actress Maryam Hamid) is a girl trekking through the desert with her grandfather Bab’Aziz (Parviz Shahinkhou) on their way to see a mysterious ceremony involving dancing spirits called dervishes. And by “through the desert,” I mean they just walk straight up one sand dune and down another, with few landmarks in sight. Khemir shot the film in the Iranian desert, and the elegant curves of the massive dunes give the film an almost surreal quality.

Somehow, the pair of travelers keep running into other people in the middle of nowhere, all of whom have tales to tell. At night, Bab’Aziz has his own ongoing story to tell Ishtar, that of a wealthy prince who decides to forgo all his riches in search of spiritual fulfillment.

Much of the plot of “Bab’Aziz” is inspired by Sufi Muslim teachings, and in an age where some neocons still equate Muslims with terrorists, it’s refreshing to see a film espouse the tolerance and openness that underlies much of Islamic culture.

“Bab’Aziz” seems to wander at times much like the travelers, and at some points it’s unclear whether an episode is germane to the main storyline or just a digression. At times, the audience feels like Ishtar, tagging along agreeably but unsure exactly where we’re going or when we’ll get there.

But the visuals are stunning, particularly seeing the dervishes sing and dance with such life in the midst of such austere desert surroundings, and the entire film builds toward a powerful final scene that’s easily worth the trip.