BEAUTY AND THE DOGS by Carol Kaufman Segal

            Mariam (Mariam Al Ferjani) is a lovely 21-year old University student in Tunisia, excitedly preparing and looking forward to attending a dance with her school mates.  Once there, Mariam meets Youssef (Ghanem Zrelli), and they decide to leave the dance and take a walk on the beach.  In the next scene, Mariam is disheveled and frantically running, followed by Youssef.

            What follows is a very tense film about an innocent young woman who is raped by police in a repressive country that closes its eyes to corrupt police.  Accompanied by Youssef, she seeks help at a private clinic who turns her away, telling her she needs to go to a public hospital.  The place is chaotic, but she is finally told that she is fine, while making her feel that whatever happened to her, she asked for it.  She is rudely treated and refused an examination without showing her ID.  Unfortunately, Mariam’s purse was lost during the rape and she has nothing to show her identity.

            Youssef has convinced Mariam that she needs to file a complaint with the Police Department, for the handling of her case as well as for the rape itself.  But when they arrive at the Police Department, she encounters the police who raped her and also finds her purse in the back seat of their car in which they carried out their onerous attack.

            The tension throughout the film increases as both Youssef and Mariam are treated as criminals.  They police finally throw Youssef in jail, then try to force Mariam to sign a paper dropping her complaint.  The film is one in which the tension rises as Mariam is left alone to fight for her rights.  Throughout the ordeal of the night, Mariam gets stronger in her goal, leaving the police stunned by her strength.

            Beauty and the Dogs was written and directed by Kaouther Ben Hania.  It was based on a true story.  However, the film takes place in one night whereas the true story played out over a longer period of time.  Though it is sometimes very tense and difficult to watch, it is extremely well-done and gives insight into the suppression that people live through in other worlds.  The film is playing at the Nuart Theatre, 11272 Santa Monica Blvd. in Los Angeles.   It is unrated with a running time of 100 minutes, and performed in Arabic with English subtitles.