Tender is the Wolf

Jilani Saadi’s second feature film is far from being a cliché film about Tunesia with colourful pictures and folk scenes. It is an urban story that takes place during one cold winter night in the capital city, Tunis. The protagonists are all outcasts with a more or less lost existence. The weirdest one of them is an albino with a big toothy smile. The main character, a man around thirty, Stoufa, is so tender (the tender Wolf) that he is not seen as a man by many. He is jobless and his parents still support him. After a row with his father one evening, he joins his mates in the street hanging about and drinking. Something goes terribly wrong when Saloua, a young woman with a provocative look, passes by - his pals rape her. Because the woman comes from a similar scene as them (she’s an escort girl, dances in a bar) she calls her (criminal) brother to seek revenge. As is often the case, the innocent Stoufa gets punished even though he didn't touch her at all. The night goes on with Stoufa trying to pay back the woman and his false pals for being punished. Step by step, a strange relationship develops between him and the young woman.
A vivid, realistic and fascinating picture of an unknown urban subculture that also has its funny moments. (LC)