“Hair: The Story of Grass” is a satirical comedy that is both provocative and strange—it’s filmed in a retro-VHS cartoon format with lots of flashbacks, flashforwards and jump cuts.
The film was written and directed by Maha Al-Saati.
Maha’s style is expressive as she explores domestic life in a household in Saudi Arabia including a woman caring for her brother living at home who is said to be “not normal” in the film because he is touching the hair of young girls.
With minimal dialogue and exposition, we enter a world where body hair both repels and attracts us.
We are shown hair removal commercials on every television set in the house and are confronted with the idea that body hair makes us want to run away or shave it off.
The viewer is privy to the innerworkings of the household and sensitive to the input from family or friends that a particular style of hair is subjectively bad or good as noted in Abu Shanab’s mustache.
There is subtlety and implication in this film as questions of love, attraction, familial duty, and cultural expectations arise.
Rating: B
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