Rahim breaks out in Guantanamo drama
‘The Mauritanian’ based on memoir of former prisoner
“It was the first time I read a script where the Muslim character was sympathetic and at the heart of the movie.” — Tahar Rahim, who plays Mohamedou Ould Slahi in “The Mauritanian.”
Kevin Macdonald was going to turn down directing “The Mauritanian.”
He’d read Mohamedou Ould Slahi’s bestselling memoir about his experience being kept behind bars in Cuba for 14 years without charges, but couldn’t see anything aside from a fascinating historical document in his “Guantanamo Diary.”
The director of the Oscar-winning Munich Olympics documentary “One Day in September” and the Idi
Amin film “The Last King of Scotland” didn’t think it was a movie.
But Benedict Cumberbatch and his producing partner, who had brought the project to Macdonald, had one request: Talk to Slahi before you say no.
“I was intimidated to talk to him,” Macdonald said. “Here’s a guy who’s been accused of being involved in 9/11, who has received a phone call from Osama bin Laden’s satellite phone. And more than anything else, here’s a guy who has suffered so much. I thought he was going to be a destroyed human being — angry and resentful.”
Instead, on the other end of the line, he found an intelligent and witty person who could quote “The Big Lebowski” verbatim and was, against all odds, unbroken by his harrowing experience. And suddenly Macdonald knew that he was the story.
The end result, co-starring Cumberbatch as a Marine Corps lawyer and Jodie Foster as a defense attorney, is “The Mauritanian,” playing in theaters where open.
“I thought this is a man who I think a mainstream audience can fall in love with, who they can relate to,” Macdonald said. “And I don’t know another mainstream American movie which has a sympathetic Muslim lead. I don’t think it exists.”
Playing Slahi is French actor Tahar Rahim, who is perhaps best known for his breakout performance in the 2009 French prison drama “A Prophet.” Macdonald had worked with him a decade prior on “The Eagle” and knew that his English skills had improved considerably. He also had recently played an FBI agent in the Hulu miniseries “The Looming Tower.”
But Rahim was also reluctant at first. He didn’t know what to expect from a Muslim role in an American production about Guantanamo Bay and feared it would be stereotypical.
“I think when you are a Muslim man and you are taking part in this sort of project, this is more than just about your career,” Macdonald said.
After five pages, however, Rahim knew this was something different and worthwhile.
“It was the first time I read a script where the Muslim character was sympathetic and at the heart of the movie,” Rahim said.
Naturally, the next step was to meet Slahi, which he did over Skype. He found him to be funny and clever and generous and cool, like a mix of “Muhammad Ali and Nelson Mandela.” But his entire person also changed when the subject veered toward his captivity.
“His face darkened. He was almost not articulate. I felt bad, and I felt stupid, and I didn’t want to make him suffer,” Rahim said.
As Macdonald observed, “the trauma is still there. He’s just decided to not let it take over his life.”
Rahim settled on a different approach from that point. “I felt the right way to do it was just to spend time with him so I could observe him,” he said.
He decided to avoid burdening him with those kinds of questions, and instead relied on the memoir, other accounts of the detainee experience there and putting himself “as close as possible to the real conditions.”
“The only way to do it was to go all in, and I did,” Rahim said.
He lost around 25 pounds in 18 days, deprived himself of sleep and wore shackles around his ankles, which bled occasionally.
Macdonald worried Rahim was going too far, but his actor protested.
“I said, listen, I’m not going to die. I am not going to hurt myself. But I need to do it out of respect to Mohamedou and to the audience,” Rahim said. “The more you experience it, the more you feel like you’re touching a sort of truth, and you want go further and further and further.”
Rahim did have to ask Slahi one big question before starting, however. He couldn’t understand how he turned his anger into forgiveness. Slahi told him that it made him feel free.
“He would put himself in the shoes of others, trying to always understand people, especially his captors,” Rahim said.
The committed performance has not only earned Rahim early raves, but some awards love too. He was recently nominated for a Golden Globe.
And Macdonald thinks it could be his big breakout stateside too.
“I can see him in a romantic comedy. I can see him in a mainstream American movie,” Macdonald said. “And I think in some ways he would love to have that career.”
PARIS — From her bulletproof case in the Louvre Museum, Mona Lisa’s smile met an unfamiliar sight the other morning: emptiness. The gallery where throngs of visitors swarmed to ogle her day after day was a void, deserted under France’s latest coronavirus confinement.
Around the corner, the Winged Victory of Samothrace floated quietly above a marble staircase, majestic in the absence of selfie-sticks and tour groups. In the Louvre’s medieval basement, the Great Sphinx of Tanis loomed in the dark like a granite ghost from behind bars.
Yet out of the rare and monumental stillness, sounds of life were stirring in the Louvre’s great halls.
The rat-a-tat of a jackhammer echoed from a ceiling above the Sphinx’s head. Rap music thumped from the Bronze
Room under Cy Twombly’s ceiling in the Sully Wing, near where workers were sawing parquet for a giant new floor. In Louis XIV’s former apartments, restorers in surgical masks climbed scaffolding to tamp gold leaf onto ornate moldings.
The world’s most visited museum — nearly 10 million in 2019, mostly from overseas — is grappling with its longest closure since World War II, as pandemic restrictions keep its treasures under lock and key. But without crowds that can swell to as many as 40,000 people a day, museum officials are seizing a golden opportunity to finesse a grand refurbishment for when visitors return.
“For some projects, the lockdown has allowed us to do in five days what would have previously taken five weeks,” said Sébastien Allard, general curator and director of the Louvre’s paintings department.
Louvre lovers have had to settle for seeing masterpieces during the pandemic through virtual tours and the hashtags #LouvreChezVous and @ MuseeLouvre. Millions of viewers got a spectacular fix this month from the Netflix hit series “Lupin,” in which actor Omar Sy, playing a gentleman thief, stars in action-filled scenes in the Louvre’s bestknown galleries .
But virtual reality can hardly replace the real thing. Louvre officials are hoping the government will reopen cultural institutions to the public soon.
In the meantime, a small army of around 250 artisans has been working since France’s latest lockdown went into effect Oct. 30. Instead of waiting until Tuesdays — the sole day that the Louvre used to close — curators, restorers, conservators and other experts are pressing ahead five days a week to complete major renovations that had started before the pandemic and introduce new beautifications that they hope to finish by mid-February.
Some of the work is relatively simple, like dusting the frames of nearly 4,500 paintings. Some is herculean, like makeovers in the Egyptian antiquities hall and the Sully Wing. Nearly 40,000 explanatory plaques in English and French are being hung next to art works.
Even before the pandemic, the Louvre was taking a hard look at crowd management because mass tourism had meant many galleries were choked with tour groups.
While travel restrictions have slashed the number of visitors, the museum will limit entry to ticket holders with reservations when it reopens to meet health protocols.
Other changes are planned — such as new interactive experiences, including yoga sessions every half-hour on Wednesdays near Jacques-Louis David and Peter Paul Rubens masterpieces, and workshops in which actors play scenes from famous tableaux right in front of the canvas.
“It’s a callout to say the museum is living and that people have the right to do these things here,” said Marina-Pia Vitali, a deputy director of interpretation who oversees the projects.
When I walked the halls on a recent visit, I felt a thrill upon seeing the Venus de Milo rise from her pedestal — minus the glow of iPhones — and admired, at leisure, the drape of sheer fabric chiseled from unblemished marble.
In the cavernous Red Room — home to monumental French paintings including the coronation of Napoleon as emperor in Notre Dame, and the Raft of the Medusa, depicting gray-skinned souls just clinging to life — it felt uplifting not to be swept along by throngs.
The pandemic also has wreaked havoc with planning for special exhibits. The Louvre lends around 400 works a year to other museums and receives numerous loans for shows.
“It’s really complicated because all museums in the world are in the process of changing their planning,” Allard said.
As governments order new restrictions to contain a resurgence of the virus, special shows are being pushed back. A loan reserved for exhibits at several museums may get caught in confinements, making it tricky to deliver the promised artwork, he said.
Nearby, workers climbed a rolling scaffold to remove an enormous Anthony van Dyck painting of Venus asking Vulcan for arms. Destined for an exhibit in Madrid, the painting was whisked through the Dutch halls, past Johannes Vermeer’s Astronomer studying an astrolabe, before getting stuck in front of a small doorway.
The workers turned the painting on its side and slid it on pillows to the next gallery, where it would go on to be packaged and — pandemic restrictions permitting — sent on its way.
“COVID has been a force majeure,” said Allard, as a duo of Dutch paintings were hoisted to replace the van Dyck. “At the moment we have so many question marks — it’s hard to know what the situation will be in two, three or four months,” he said.
“But despite COVID, we continue to work as always,” Allard continued. “We must be ready to welcome back the public.”
My brother “Harold” died unexpectedly from an infection in December.
It was a shock to me and our other brother, because he had always been the healthiest one of us.
I have never been close to my sister-in-law, and their adult kids are off living their lives.
I sent a condolence card to each of them but got nothing in return.
They are the only family I have, so I am at a loss as to how to stay connected.
What do you suggest?
— Grieving Sister
Dear Grieving: Because your brother died suddenly, his wife and children may be reeling in their own orbits, unable to be expansive enough to understand that you, too, are grieving.
In less isolated times, when people are able to gather together to mourn, family members can circle together and comfort each other personally.
I’m so sorry you are experiencing such acute grief. Because you want to forge a closer connection, you should call your sister-in-law occasionally to check in and see how she and her kids are doing.
Contact the adult children personally, as well. Social media offers a wonderful way to connect and essentially get to know people in a new way. If any of these relatives are active on Facebook or Instagram, it would be worthwhile for you to create an account and see if you can connect with them.
Dear Amy: I believe my husband is having an affair. I know this from watching his behaviors. His phone is constantly going off, day and night. He stands with his back against the wall to check his phone so I can’t see it when he gets home. He is constantly clearing his history. He is very protective about his phone and gets very defensive when I try to talk to him about it.
When we were engaged, I caught him sexting with his ex-wife, who was one of my closest friends. He refuses to work on our relationship and is very emotionally abusive and immature.
I have prayed, gone to church, and done everything I can to support him and help him, but ultimately it’s his choice to continue with these behaviors. He won’t go to counseling to get help.
I feel taken for granted and used. I believe he has fallen out of love with me. The spark in his eyes is gone, and he won’t communicate.
At this point, I don’t know what to do. I have already considered separation but don’t feel like that will fix anything because he refuses to change.
I don’t want a divorce because I love him.
— Confused
Dear Confused: Actually, separation could fix everything. Everything.
Separation would remove you from your husband’s orbit. You wouldn’t have to watch him as he tries to mask what he’s doing in your home. You wouldn’t be forced to look into his loveless, sparkless eyes.
You wouldn’t have to confront him about his dishonesty or listen to his lies and defensive responses to your allegations.
You don’t have to stop loving your husband. You do need to start loving yourself. You need to grow up, accept that you cannot force your husband to change, and take responsibility for the fact that you chose to marry someone you don’t trust. Counseling would help you.
You are a great believer in the power of change. So change!
Dear Amy: With all too much time on my hands this past year, I’ve been digitizing hundreds of photographs I hadn’t looked at in decades.
I’m grateful for every romantic relationship I’ve had, and some of these photographs document these long past relationships.
I’d be very interested in your and readers’ thoughts about my obligations, if any, with respect to such images.
Do I destroy them? Offer to share with former partners? And, more delicately, some of these images display tasteful — not explicit — nudity (I worked as a professional photographer in my youth). Should these be handled differently?
— Embers
Dear Embers: I think you should ask the other people pictured (privately, not on social media) whether they would like these photographs. If not, offer to delete them.
The trademark of Northwestern Lehigh’s turnaround season under first-year coach Jerry Lloyd has been in its defense.
So it was fitting that the Tigers’ signature win of the season was clinched with a defensive play.
Dylan Witkowski blocked Joey Galle’s 3-point shot at the buzzer to preserve Northwestern’s 58-57 Colonial League victory over Notre Dame in New Tripoli.
The Crusaders, playing for the first time since an 88-85 win over Allen on Jan. 25, had a nine-game win streak snapped.
The Tigers, meanwhile, were able to bounce back from a 52-33 loss at Bangor on Thursday night and get their 10th win of the season.
“After taking a beating like we did the other night, just bouncing back and competing for 32 minutes like we did makes me really proud of them,” Lloyd said.
Northwestern (10-4, 7-2 in the league) moved a step closer to securing a home game when the league tournament begins Feb. 22.
Witkowski, a 6-foot junior who scored nine points, was
in the right place to defend the final shot.
“We were talking about it during the last timeout and the key was to not let them get up an easy, uncontested shot,” Witkowski said. “That’s what we executed at the end. We knew Notre Dame’s guards were great and we were helping out on them as much as we could.”
Lloyd said he had no idea who was going to take the last shot for Notre Dame.
“It’s a very good team with a lot of offensive weapons and they’re very difficult to defend,” he said. “Dylan made a nice play
getting his left hand up and using his length to get a deflection at the end.”
The Tigers, who had won six in a row and nine of 10 before the bad outing at Bangor, slowed down Notre Dame with a patient, balanced offensive attack and an effective zone defense.
Northwestern led 11-3 at the outset and made 12 of 20 shots in the first half.
Notre Dame, however, made eight 3-pointers before halftime, including four by Logan Rickert and three by Brendan Boyle, to take a 32-28 halftime lead.
The Tigers, though, were where they wanted to be.
“We wanted to use our offense as defense a little bit and tried not to let this game get out of control,” Lloyd said. “It did a little bit in the fourth quarter, but overall we did a good job of keeping the score in either the high 40s or 50s.”
Two Cade Christopher free throws gave Northwestern a 53-46 lead with 5 minutes, 40 seconds left, but Notre Dame came right back with eight straight points to regain the lead.
An Andres Garrido layup give the Tigers a 56-55 advantage, but Sean Howlett scored off a Boyle pass to put Notre Dame back up.
Christopher’s two free throws with 50 seconds remaining proved to be the deciding points.
“It was a one-possession game in the end, but I told our guys that I thought the game was decided in the first quarter,” Crusaders coach Pat Boyle said. “I thought with the long layoff we had, our guys would be itching to play, but we didn’t come out with any urgency. We let them do what they wanted.
“We knew [Lloyd] would run some good sets, and they were patient and ran their sets until they got a good shot. We didn’t do anything to take them out of rhythm.”
Boyle was pleased his team scrapped back in the fourth period by forcing turnovers but added: “We needed to do that from the opening tip.”
Nick Henry led a balanced Tigers attack with 13 points and Christopher added 10.
Brendan Boyle, who was the area’s leading scorer coming in with 28.4 points per game, was held to a season-low 17. Rickert led the Crusaders (9-2, 4-2) with 19 points, 15 of them coming off five 3-pointers.
“This was good for us because we have not had to play from behind since Executive in our first game,” Boyle said. “We have to get better at those end-of-quarter and end-of-game situations. There’s a good chance we could play them again.”
District 11 announced Friday night that it has secured use of Allentown’s PPL Center for three nights in March to host basketball tournament games.
Games will be played inside on March 8, 9 and 11.
It is unclear which classifications and rounds will be held on those nights. In a news release, the district said its basketball committee will work to revise the tournament in the coming days.
The original schedule had the quarterfinal rounds in all 12 classifications — six boys and six girls — slated for the weekend of March 5-6.
The semifinals in 2A, 4A and 5A boys and 1A, 3A and 6A girls were slated to be held March 9 and the semifinals in 1A, 3A and 6A boys and 2A, 4A and 5A girls were scheduled for March 10, with championships set to be held the weekend of March 12-13.
All games until the finals were going to be held at the home gym of the higher seed, with neutral sites expected for the championship games. But now, the original dates and plans will be revamped.
In 2017, District 11 held the 6A boys semifinals at PPL Center and the paid attendance was 7,661 ,with actually more than 8,000 in the building. The big-time setting was considered a huge success, and District 11 has looked to go back to PPL Center ever since but had trouble getting the open dates.
The Eastern Pennsylvania Conference’s girls and boys semifinals and finals were held at PPL Center last year, and while the crowds weren’t nearly as large as they were in 2017, the three-night run was also well-received by the basketball community.
District 11 has joined other eastern districts in using non-high school sites for some of its biggest games. District 2 has used Mohegan
Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre for its biggest basketball games.
Likewise, District 3 utilizes the Giant Center in Hershey for playoffs. District 7 uses Heinz Field in Pittsburgh for football championships.
District 11 said that its intention is to have tickets available for purchase for each of the participating teams. Details on tickets will be available as the games draw closer.
All state health regulations, mandates and guidelines will be in effect for all games at PPL Center. Spectators, staff, coaches, officials and athletes are expected to comply with those guidelines.
Even if the seats aren’t filled as they were four years ago, the atmosphere will be unique for the players and coaches.
“In the past, PPL Center has provided the student-athletes of District 11 with an outstanding, in some cases, once-in-a-lifetime experience,” District 11 basketball Chairman Ray Kinder said. “To be able to provide the opportunity again to this year’s teams is a great thing, considering all of the adjustments that our communities have had to endure.”
Bob Hartman, the District 11 chairman, credited the district’s partnership with the St. Luke’s University Health Network and Service Electric Cable with being the keys to opening PPL Center doors to district basketball.
“Their perseverance in making this happen with the leadership at PPL Center will be a highlight and memory our student-athletes will not forget,” Hartman said.
This year’s district tournament games will feature more of a sense of urgency than they have in years because only district champs advance to the PIAA tournament. The state tournament will begin the week after the District 11 tournament is completed.