General analysis: Les Soeurs Hamlet
Contrary to what any European might think when reading Les Sœurs Hamlet (The Hamlet Sisters), the title of Abdelkrim Balhoul’s film does not refer to Shakespeare’s play or character. The title and the characters of the film take us to Kabylia, not to the Danish kingdom. The story is a discovery of their Berber roots for the two young Parisian heroines, who learn that “Hamlet”, in their father’s language, means “the one who bears, the bearer” or “the one who takes all the difficult blows of life without turning a hair, with dignity, with self-control”. Nothing in the film seems to be inspired by Shakespeare’s play, as we are plunged in North-African culture.
Contributed by Gaëlle GINESTET
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