Le Grand Voyage

Odds are, you’ll have an idea where Moroccan writer-director Ferroukhi is headed with his road-trip. Well, it is a film where a French adolescent gets dragged off on a hadj by his crotchety traditional Muslim father, so we can be quite sure we’ll end up in Mecca. But aside from that, as an intergenerational culture-clash picture, reconciliation of some sort is assured. Not that we don’t have fun on our travels.
The son, Reda (Cazale), already distressed by forcible separation from his mobile phone, is further tested by his stern progenitor’s insistence on roads-less-travelled and a game-plan that involves just keeping the car pointed at Mecca. Lest they have a good time along the way, all potential tourist traps are avoided in favour of routes through Turkey, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria.
Lengthy silences soon give way to noisy argument, but as one of the few productions allowed to film inside Mecca, the breathtaking backdrop allows for a sweet denouement.