When Franco came to power in the 1930s, many Spaniards fled to the Moroccan city of Tangier. Maria Angeles is one of those born of expat parents, in the Kasbah; she has lived there ever since. Her only regret is that her daughter and two grand-children now live in Madrid. Widowed for 20 years, she spends her days in her apartment on Calle Malaga, shopping, cooking, listening to music, and waving to her many friends on the street.
Her blissful world is turned upside down when her daughter, who legally owns the apartment, announces that she must sell it. Maria has two choices: move to Madrid with her daughter; or move into an aged-care residence. Maria is happy with neither choice. A battle ensues.
Director Maryam Touzani burst onto the cinema scene in 2022 with her magnificent feature The Blue Caftan. For Calle Malaga she has once again collaborated with writer Nabil Ayouch on an intelligent and engaging script. At the heart of the film is the wonderful Carmen Maura (Spain’s answer to Helen Mirren) who brings authenticity and humanity to everything she touches. Alongside her is the perfectly cast Moroccan actor Ahmed Boulane. Their chemistry blows that of most younger actors out of the water. And another veteran actor, María Alfonsa Rosso, brings a remarkable depth to the role of Maria’s life-long friend Josefa, who lives in a silent order, sitting quietly while Maria talks.
Touzani who is herself from Tangier, has crafted a love letter to this cosmopolitan city, and in particular to the rapidly shrinking Spanish diaspora community. But she has also created a sensual love story, an excoriation of the infantilisation of ageing, and an examination of the mother-daughter relationship. This richness of theme is both its strength and its downfall. The film is simply trying to do too much. The Blue Caftan had a pristine clarity of purpose. Calle Malaga is more of a delightful muddle, somewhat like Tangier herself. Yet so much of it is utterly delightful and moving, that one forgives the somewhat kaleidoscopic focus and the surprisingly unsatisfying ending.
There may have been too many fingers in this pie, but Touzani has still managed to create a work of cinema as delicious as Maria’s neighbour’s anchovy tagine.
Reviewed by Tracey Korsten
Rating 4.5 out of 5
YouTube trailer: Calle Malaga Official Trailer
Distributor: Films Boutique
A delightful, sensual, imperfect, adorable, delicious, messy, treat.
