Panorama review - DEGRADE by Arab Nasser and Tarzan Nasser

An ill-advised feminine perspective on the Palestinian conflict. DEGRADE by ARAB NASSER and TARZAN NASSER was screened in the PANORAMA section of the 15th T-MOBILE NEW HORIZONS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL.

Different viewpoints and perspectives on the PALESTINIAN CONFLICT are always welcome. DEGRADE marks the feature directorial debut of ARAB NASSER and TARZAN NASSER, and on paper aims to use an interesting approach. 

The story is set during the course of an unbearably hot afternoon in a crammed beauty salon on GAZA STRIP. The situation outside is tense and suddenly erupts into a full blown conflict. The point of focus, however, remain the interactions between the thirteen women themselves, who pass the time in what is easily one of the most incompetent beauty salon of all time. 

The women have very opposing personalities, nevertheless they don't feel genuine and are very caricatural in nature far too defined to offer anything new than a superficial representation of femininity in general, that has been surpassed for years in the international cinematic scene.

Thus, we have a divorcee eager to look pretty for her young lawyer, but frustrated by the insecurities inspired by her signs of ageing. There is the young woman who has fallen for the wrong man. The chatty free spirited woman who constantly seeks to provoke the hijab wearing, conservative and religious one. A catty woman envious and jealous of her daughter-in-law-to-be. And as two of the film's many underdeveloped subplots, the owner of the salon is Russian and a pregnant woman timely prepares to give birth as the conflict erupts. 

There is essentially nothing new in any of the narrative's predicaments. But what is far more underwhelming about the film is that it could only have worked on satirical grounds, which is why the light hearted moments are the most rewarding in DEGRADE, such as a scene in which the afore mentioned chatty woman likens herself as president, and elects her fellow inhabitants of the salons as her ministers. 

Despite this, its leniance towards seriousness is an inevitable let down, as the screenplay lacks profundity and maturity. For instance, the examinations of religious and political themes seem of little importance when placed against more traditionally feminine concerns of age and beauty. 

The clash between the central characters of the film becomes progressively annoying. the technical competence exhibited by the film sometimes falters under overtly accentuated fascinations with mirrors, which exposes some truly embarrassing overacting. Hence, one cannot expect too much from DEGRADE, that might still disguise itself among other films taking place in the same delicate cultural context, but is bound to represent a rather low level of standards of socio-political sensibility or even present a rewarding examination on the female sex.