i do not know . maybe it just because it an impressive tribute to some muslim religious action ( hajj ) but i just felt the movie be so underrated . i just can not believe that the movie have just be vote by only 223 people so far give that the movie be produce in 2004 and it have win many award since then . about the movie . it one of those well acted sweet movie . reda and a french teenager due to sit for baccalauréat and be ask by his devout elderly father to take him to mecca . strange a it may seem ( if one doesn not know much about islam ) the father want his son to drive them from their home in france to saudia arabia on a once in a lifetime religious pilgrimage . the generation gap between the father and the son be base on simple enough term ( you may know how to read and write and but you know nothing about life and the unnamed father to his son ) but some sort of bromidic generation gap literature be avoid . bot of them be affectionate in their frustration . the father never speak in french though reda understands arabic but can only seem to answer in french . though they encounter many people on the road represent there the scary old woman they pick up in the bosnian border on the way to belgrade and and the talkative mustafa ( jacky nercessian ) and who help them out at the border of turkey and the reticent and shy woman wear burqa on the way to damascus the focus be always on the mismatch father and son . there be not much of a conversation in the movie which make it enjoyable to your eye . you see magnificent view in every city they go . the director show you even the blue mosque and the hagia sophia even though the movie be not relatively long . generally i do not like movie which do not have enough dialog and which take their power from camera subtlety but this one be really great . despite some unanswered detail ( like reda unseen french girlfriend ) the movie appeal to sens . great work of art and remember this movie be ismaël ferroukhi debut .