Trances

Trances (Transes) (1981)

Runtime: 89 minutes

Directed by: Ahmed El Maanouni

Starring: This is a documentary about the Moroccan band Nass El Ghiwane

From: Interfilms/Ohra-Sogeav

This is a documentary from Morocco & France... and an informative one at that: 

For a few years now I've owned on Blu-ray the Criterion release of Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project, Vol. 1; the World Cinema Project has found and restored all sorts of interesting foreign films from across the world, and that release contained six feature flicks. Before last night I hadn't seen this Moroccan/French co-production, about the Moroccan band Nass El Ghiwane. They formed in 1971 and actually are still around, although naturally not all the members seen in this documentary are still in the act.

At the time they were incredibly popular in North Africa-a point proven out when you see fans jump the stage during their performances; this happens quite a few times. Their music is native to the region, meaning that to my Western ears it is very catchy acoustic tunes with plenty of percussion, and they added in different instruments such as a banjo. Some of the instruments I cannot identify by name but I do understand why Ghiwane was such a hit in the region. Sometimes their lyrics are political and have a message; it is basic tenements such as “lusting after materialistic wants is bad” and “everyone should get along”, but they are still relevant statements.

Along with concert performances you get to see snapshots of life in Morocco... the vehicles, dress, random citizens talking to the camera, etc. Also, the band members talk about themselves and being in the band; even they get ripped off by unscrupulous promoters. As an aside, I now know that Renault sold a lot of cars in Morocco. Without this being a deep-dive into life in the area, I was still intrigued by what I saw and heard... especially when a Moroccan legend was shared, which concerned them being occupied by the Portuguese back in the day. For a documentary about a act I knew nothing about beforehand, it was very interesting and I really enjoyed the music.