Shéhérazade

Der 17-jährige Zachary, der gerade seine erste Gefängnisstrafe verbüßt hat, lernt in den „mean streets“ von Marseille, wo die Jungs dealen und die Mädchen anschaffen, die gleichaltrige Prostituierte Shéhérazade kennen, der er zuerst als Freier gegenübertritt. Und so nimmt eine unorthodoxe Love-Hate-Beziehung ihren Lauf. In seinem Langfilmdebüt erzählt Marlin eine Geschichte von Sex, Drogen und Bewährungsauflagen mit disruptiver Schnitttechnik und einer nervösen Kamera, die das urbane Chaos reflektiert. Ein filmisches Protokoll von der Schattenseite des Lebens, in dem Zynismus und deftiger Humor immer wieder auf seltsame Weise zueinanderfinden. (Thomas Mießgang)
 
Zach is a teenager in Marseille, just out of jail. Unable to fit in with his family or former friends, he drifts toward the local prostitution scene, getting involved with (and eventually living off ) his feisty girlfriend, Shéhérazade. But Zach’s inability to truly commit to her and assume responsibility leads to violent, abusive consequences on the street, and the need for him to speak up for her in court. Can Zach alter his deepest, most ingrained values and assumptions? In an immediate, immersive manner that recalls the films of Robert Guédiguian (for the Marseille setting) and the Dardennes (for the way the camera sticks close to the characters, whether still or in motion), SHÉHÉRAZADE at first appears to belong squarely (and nobly) within the camp of realistic, social issue cinema. As it develops, however, it deftly steers itself into pockets of genre cinema (crime, street gangs, prison) and lyrical, romantic drama. Ultimately, it is a film about gender roles within a downtrodden underclass: Zach’s core problem is that he cannot respect “whores” (or transsexuals) as real “women”, even when he is love with one – and until he can transcend that prejudice he’s going nowhere fast. (Adrian Martin)