Very Cool!!!

It is a performances centric movie

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Well this movie is a bit boring and going in my eyes to nowhere, an old man just makes friends with allowing a child to steal. Making a journey to Turkey and dieing there...in between the adolescent boy gets to do with whores (I think to make the movie a bit more interesting?!? But what disturbes me the most is how a Muslim guy is shown here...drinking and selling alcohol, selling food at a higher price to compensate the loss that he's done by letting the boy steal, flirting with women, lying to others to obtain a car, giving ideas to a boy to lie to his own father...nothing to do with a real Muslim, sufi or not, these things aren't tolerated what so ever!!!! So if you watch this movie please don't see a Muslim like this...

Francois Dupeyron has directed a masterpiece in cinematic excellence. Don't miss this very compelling drama. "Monsieur Ibrahim" has a performance by Omar Sharif that extends his dramatic displays far better than any since "Dr. Zhivago". His costar is Pierre Boulanger who plays Moses also called Momo in the film. Moses is only 16 and is being raised by his depressed Jewish father who reprimands Momo constantly. Momo or Moses becomes enamored by the proprietor of the neighborhood grocery across the street. He is also enamored by the young street walkers in the same location on Blue Road. The first encounter is with Anne Suarez who plays Sylvie the young, blond prostitute who initiates him into her world. His most interesting relationship is with Monsieur Ibrahim who persistently repeats the importance of the Koran in his own life. The eventual adoption of Momo, and their adventurous trip to Turkey is as beautiful a story as one can imagine. Be sure to add this one to your must see list.

In reading some of the comments here, I wondered if I had seen the same movie.We are being told a story that consists entirely of Momo's memories, impressions and, possibly, fantasies of when he was growing up.So it seems strange that, for example, some reviewers complain here that there is not enough formal comparative religion or, God/Allah/Yahweh help us, that the film is antisemitic.I also wondered why no-one (apparently) mentioned what Momo found inside M. Ibrahim's Koran (which surprised and intrigued me) and what that might mean.The message boards didn't help much -- and there was more ranting about more or less nothing and "facts" that seems unlikely, to say the least.Then I found the author's site and things started to make a lot more sense.Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt tells us that Momo and Monsieur Ibrahim are two people who pass unnoticed through the world. Momo is an only child with no mother, and a father who barely deserves the name of 'father', too sunk in depression to take care of his son and bring him up, or teach him and hand on to him a taste for life and its principles. As for Monsieur Ibrahim, the only thing anyone asks of him is that he give them the correct change. Both man and boy change their lives as they get to know one another. Their encounter is a marvelous enrichment.The author notes that there has been a lot of verbiage about the fact that the child is Jewish and the grocer Muslim -- "Rightly so. It was a deliberate move to create them like that. I set out to prove something and be provocative. What I wanted to prove was that in many places in the world (European capitals, ports, American cities, North African villages), people of different religions from different backgrounds live together in harmony. In Paris, Rue Bleue, the road where this story takes place and where I once lived and which definitely isn't blue, was largely inhabited by Jews with a few Christians and Muslims. They all shared not only the same street, but daily life, their joys, discontents and conversation. Friendships or mutual understanding developed among these people who came from just about everywhere, either geographically or spiritually. In this unpretentious quartier down from Montmartre, I felt I was living somewhere rich and burgeoning, where cultures met, took an interest in each other and joked about their differences."Also, when Momo is handed Monsieur Ibrahim's old Koran, he finds what was in it -- dried blue flowers. The Koran is the text but it is also what Monsieur Ibrahim has placed in it -- his life, his way of reading, his interpretation. According to the author, "spirituality is not about repeating sentences parrot-fashion, but about grasping the meaning and understanding the concept and shades of meaning, the implications. True spirituality is only worthwhile when obedience and freedom are balanced".There is a quite a bit more that you may find useful and interesting - search "Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt" if you want to explore further.

I like the simplicity of this movie. No expensive sets, no complicated dialog, no beautiful stars. The co-dependence of youth and old age is beautiful. The young boy learns how to smile and win. His estrangement from his father and his new found lust for sex have been effectively captured. The old man makes peace with his impending death. The movie has some pearls of wisdom. Its a never ending cycle - all rivers flow into the sea - into the immensity. Its not what you get, its what you give that makes you rich. And no one can take those riches away from you. I wish more reel had been spent on the car drive from France to Turkey, instead of just showing some clouds floating by.