Monsieur Ibrahim (DVD)

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Video:
Presentation is anamorphic widescreen (1.66:1 aspect ratio), color, and while high-light scenes have a slight graininess (especially scenes shot in the Mideast), the transfer and picture is otherwise excellent.

Audio:
The soundtrack is French Dolby Digital 5.1, with English, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles. There isn´t much in the way of dramatic rear-speaker action, but the songs resonate just fine on the front center and front main speakers.

Extras:
There´s only one extra, but it´s a great one: a full-length commentary by Sharif. Make that a three-quarter length commentary. There are more than a few moments of silence, but the 72-year-old Egyptian-American actor has reached an age when he can speak his mind, and his remarks are as candid as remarks get. He more than makes up for any silences. Example? As he talks about Momo´s fascination with prostitutes, Sharif says, "My first time was in Paris, at fifteen, with one of those type."

Sharif refers to the commentary as "a making-of commentary," and clearly he was asked to stand in for director Dupeyron, who isn´t comfortable enough speaking English for an extended length of time. But Sharif is a good pick for the commentary. Never mind that he´s a minor American film icon, famous for his roles in "Funny Girl," "Dr. Zhivago," and "Lawrence of Arabia," and because of that what he has to say is interesting of its own right. The bonus is that he speaks knowledgably about the process, offering anecdotes about casting and shooting the film. Sharif talks about how he took young Boulanger under his wing and invited him to his hotel to practice improvisations under the watchful eye of a coach. "I told the coach to yell at me too, so the boy wouldn't feel bad." Another example? He explains that he got around the stereotypical grandfather/orphan boy relationship by approaching the role in a different way: "I tried to play it like a child, waiting for another child to play." Unlike many actors who, in their commentaries, say only things that make them look good, Sharif has reached a point where he is able to laugh at his own failings. "At some point," he confides, "I thought of (the grocer) as an angel set down on earth to look after the boy. But the author (Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt) and director discouraged me from that thought." There are many such moments in the commentary, so that the Sharif´s take on the film becomes as quietly seductive as the film itself.

Bottom Line:
Sharif won a Cesar Award for Best Actor, and also won Best Actor at the 2003 Venice Film Festival. He turns in his strongest and most charismatic performance since "Lawrence of Arabia," and proves that it was worth the five years he waited for a role to come his way that actually interested him. This is a film driven by character, not action, and Sharif and his young acting protégé take us on an enjoyable ride from the Jewish section of Paris to a tiny village in Turkey.

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