My English Cousin

Swiss filmmaker Karim Sayad’s cousin Fayed has been in England for nearly two decades, but he is definitely still of two worlds. The Algerian native came to Britain in 2000 and eventually settled in Grimsby, marrying an English girl.  In 2016, having divorced and moved in with three roommates who spend a good deal of their time in pubs, he decided he would return to Algeria to take care of his mother and marry again. It was at this point that Sayad began filming. The resultant documentary is divided into five chapters. The first, titled 'The Shit Life Syndrome,' follows Fayed as he works two jobs—one at Pizzo Centro, where he makes kabobs, and another at a bread factory—visits his ex-wife, and plans his return to his homeland, trying to pack all his belongings as well as gifts he purchases for his relatives. Chapter Two, 'Working Class Heroes,' shows him cooking for his flatmates and explaining, as best he can, the rationale behind his return to Algeria. By Chapter Three, 'The Algerian Wedding,' he is back in North Africa, preparing to wed a woman in an arranged marriage. He is fairly blasé about the whole business, and the focus shifts noticeably to more ebullient characters—Fayed’s voluble aunt, who argues that his attitudes are no longer truly Algerian and he may be making a mistake in returning, and her young son, who jokes about finding a wife on Facebook and learning to cook by watching television shows. By Chapter Four, 'The World Is Divided Into Two Parts,' his aunt’s concerns about the wedding—she doubts the seriousness of both groom and bride—have proven correct. Fayed has called off the ceremony and returned to Grimsby and his old roommates. In the final chapter, 'Life Is Confusing At This Point,' Fayed has returned again to Algeria to marry a different woman, and he and his aunt visit the grave of his beloved uncle as demonstrations begin against the regime. But at the close he has abruptly returned to England, the wedding canceled once more. Fayed is an agreeable fellow, looking a bit like a more good-natured Vin Diesel, but though Sayad’s film captures the unsettled quality of an exile’s life by showing the back-and-forth between Fayed’s nostalgia for his homeland and the sense of belonging he feels in England despite all the difficulties he faces there, he is simply not an interesting enough character to justify feature-length treatment; over the course of its running time, the ironically-titled film grows meandering and repetitive, though never unpleasant. Optional. Aud: P, C. (F. Swietek)