Thrown into the Fire
"Recently watched 'Theeb' (Wolf) (2014). One of the best coming-of-age films I've seen. Taking place in 1916, the middle of WWI, in Ottoman territory, Theeb is a young boy in a Bedouin tribe, and his older brother, Hussein, is tasked with guiding a British soldier and an Arab revolutionary to a designated spot. Theeb ends up following them; he's curious because he's never been away from his home, and he wants to prove he can take care of himself. He gets plunged right into the fire with language barriers, raiders, mercenaries, Ottoman soldiers, and his brother getting killed , along with the Brit and revolutionary. What's really at the core, though, is how the world is rapidly changing. Trains have made Bedouin tribes obsolete. "What takes a month with a camel, now takes a week with a train. " He learns much on the rest of his lonely journey, and that final shot of him riding a camel while a train is off in the distance--that is ::chef's kiss::"