At the core of it Samira's Garden is a very basic idea and thankfully the execution is minimalist as well. Samira is coerced into marrying a middle aged widower. Her mother convinces her that perhaps some times in life one just has to do what has been planned out for them. This couldn't be truer for a girl coming of age in Morocco. Samira has no qualms about what she has walked into for she has no major expectations. All she wants of her husband is to love her and understand her. Things couldn't be further away from the truth for her.Samira's husband choses to ignore her and utilize her as a maid. He makes it very clear to her that she would be responsible for the health of his ailing father. Samira dutifully plays the role of a loving daughter to her father in law, the dutiful wife to her husband as well as a friend to Farouk, her husbands nephew who stays with them.
Stuck in a farm cut off from the rest of the civilization and her husband's impotency in addition to his complete apathy towards her adds to Samira's alienation. She can't help but recall instances from her personal life before marriage and cry herself to sleep. Samira finds herself drawn to the boyish charms of Farouk and before she knows they end up having an affair. Farouk's companionship brings some kind of relief to her life. Just when she convinces herself that she could end up living her entire life the way destiny planed for her, Samira's husband gets a whiff of her fling with Farouk. The husband forces Farouk to leave. The parting image of the film is what sums up the entire story in a single shot; a lonely Samira sitting in her garden all by herself as the camera reveals how lonely she really ends up.
Directed by Latif Lahlou, Samira's Garden resembles Satyajit Ray's Charulata at places. Lahlou uses the setting of a farm away from city to convey most of the thought rather than rely on lines that run the risk of sounding stupid in such films. The screenplay puts Farouk and Samira in situations where sparks are bound to fly such as both of them bathing the old father in law. The sparse use of dialogue, the engrossing setting and the ponderous pacing of the film make it more than just a film about repressed sexual passion which it starts out to be.
Samira is portrayed by Sanaa Mouziane who manages to get the nuances of the girl-woman just correct for majority of the film. The sumptuous actress has a good sense of comic timing and adorns a free and easy habitation for the role but at times tends to go a little overboard. Sanaa Mouziane displays with aplomb a character who pays the price of personal freedom in the name of tradition in a Muslim society.
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