The Arab is not Arabic. And life isn't necessarily unhappy. However, his family insists on keeping custom by burying a body which no longer exists.
The absence of the cadaver alludes to the missing bodies of those who've disappeared - over 17, during the Lebanese war - and the hopeless mourning of their families who wallow in incertitude without a concrete trace of death. This time round, they're down to eight; the others have slipped into the beyond.
En route, they encounter a beautiful young woman. This film unfolds like a map, a topographical study of the dead ends and impasses of Algiers and of Algerian society. Tonight's the night he shall proclaim his love to his beloved. He's decided to buy himself a head for the occasion. So Babeth gives in and goes herself.
In the street, she's harrassed by a group of teens. Though wary at first, she warms to him bit by bit. Suddenly a young woman appears on a street corner.
He watches her until she disappears into a hairdresser's. Bewitched by her beauty, he follows her into the shop where normally only women are allowed. She finds out it doesn't. So Fatima goes out in the street to see if people still exist when she shuts her eyes. While Magezi is ready to integrate at all costs into their new country, learning the language and finding a job, Dembe escapes the reality of the Swedish cold by seeking refuge in memories of his childhood village.
