L'âme du bled (1923) is a weird, dusty relic about a very long commute

Is this worth your time?

If you love old silent films and the way grainy desert sand looks on camera, then yeah, give it a go. But if you hate slow movies where people stare intensely at nothing for three minutes, you should probably skip this one. 🌵

I found myself watching L'âme du bled late last night because the title sounded like it had some weight to it. It means "Soul of the Land" or something like that, but mostly it is just about a guy who is down bad for a French woman.

Abslem Ben El Kebir plays the Sheik, and honestly, the guy has a very intense face. He spends the first part of the movie looking at the horizon like he is trying to see into the next century.

Then he meets this French colonist and suddenly Morocco isn't enough for him anymore. He packs up his things and heads to France, which feels like a huge mistake about ten minutes after he gets there.

The movie doesn't really explain why she is so special. She just kind of exists in the frame, wearing nice hats and looking slightly bored by the heat.

One scene that stuck with me was when he's still in his native country, just sitting on a rug. The shadows are so long and deep that it feels more like a horror movie than a romance. 🌑

There is a lot of walking in this film. People walk across dunes, they walk through markets, they walk onto boats. I think the director really liked the way feet look in the sand.

Once the story moves to France, the whole vibe changes and becomes a bit more stuffy. It stops being about the vastness of the desert and starts being about awkward dinner parties and fancy suits.

The Sheik looks so out of place in a European suit. You can tell the actor is uncomfortable, or maybe the character is, or maybe both. It’s hard to tell with silent acting sometimes. 🧥

I kept thinking about Vendémiaire while watching this, mostly because of how French cinema from this era handles the idea of "the homeland." They really loved their drama back then.

The pacing is... well, it’s a 1923 silent film. It moves like a turtle on a very hot day.

There is this one shot of a boat leaving the harbor that lingers for way too long. I actually checked to see if my video had frozen, but no, the water was still moving slightly.

I wonder what people in 1923 thought of this. Did they find it romantic? Or did they think the Sheik was a bit of an idiot for leaving his whole life behind for a lady he barely knows?

The film doesn't have the same energy as something like Flashing Spurs. It is much more quiet and, frankly, a bit depressing.

Stuff I noticed:

• The Sheik's horse is the best actor in the movie. 🐎
• The French woman's house has too many vases.
• Every time someone gets angry, they clench their fists so hard I thought their knuckles would pop.
• The tinting on the film changes from yellow to blue and it's a bit jarring.

I think the director, Jacques Séverac, was trying to say something about cultural identity. But it mostly feels like he just wanted to film some cool desert shots before going back to the city.

There's a moment where the main character looks at a photo and he looks so sad that I almost felt bad for him. But then I remembered he chose to move to a country where he doesn't fit in at all.

It’s not quite as tragic as A Wall Street Tragedy, but it’s definitely not a feel-good movie. It’s more of a "hindsight is 20/20" kind of story.

If you’ve seen Where Poppies Bloom, you know how these old melodramas love to drag out the longing looks. This one is no different.

Is the movie good? Maybe? It’s interesting as a piece of history. But as a story, it’s a bit thin and relies way too much on the Sheik looking mysterious.

I did like the ending though. It didn't feel as fake as I expected it to be. It just kind of... stops. Which is how a lot of my favorite old movies end.

If you're looking for a double feature, maybe pair this with The Wonderful Chance just to see two very different takes on 1920s life. One is all grit and the other is all desert sand.

Final thought: The hats in this movie are top tier. 🎩

Anyway, I'm going to go get some coffee and try to get the image of that endless desert out of my head. It makes me feel thirsty just thinking about it.