The Last Friday, directed by Yahya Alabdallah
Mobility and money are the two threads binding the darkly comic work of writer-director Yahya Alabdallah. The one, of course, is very much dependent on the other, as Amman taxi driver Youssef soon discovers after his fall from grace from luxury car sales rep to lowly cabbie. Youssef is unable to pay for repairs to his cab, buy a new wheel for his teenage son's bike, or even carry a cellphone – an obstacle to just about everything he wants to do over the course of the 90-minute film. Ali Suliman is captivating as the 40-year-old Youssef – ineffectual and depressed about his lot in life (among other indignities, he needs money to pay for a medical procedure involving a twisted testicle), the single father also struggles valiantly to raise an increasingly troubled son.
Sept. 28, 8:45 p.m. Pacific Cinematheque; Oct. 1, 12:40 p.m. Granville 5