Meryam Joobeur’s “Who Do I Belong To” is an evocative film layered with familial tension, cultural critique, and metaphysical inquiry. While the film’s narrative centers on Aïcha and her fractured family, the interpretive richness of Who Do I Belong To extends far beyond the director’s intentions, inviting audiences to wrestle with questions of identity, belonging, and morality on their own terms.
Through the lens of Roland Barthes’ Death of the Author, this analysis seeks to unmoor the film from Joobeur’s creative control and explore how its meaning is ultimately constructed by its audience.
The Interplay of Intention and Interpretation
Who Do I Belong To deals with themes of grief, patriarchy, and moral ambiguity, explicitly expressed through Aïcha’s struggle to reconcile her maternal instincts with the societal consequences of her sons’ actions. However, critics have noted that the film’s cryptic nature and its blending of realism and surrealism destabilize any single interpretive framework. For instance, the recurring motif of Aïcha’s prophetic dreams can be viewed as a symbolic representation of her grief and guilt, but some audience members might interpret these sequences as supernatural interventions, thereby attributing agency to forces beyond the characters.
Such interpretive ambiguity exemplifies Barthes’ argument that a text is a “space of many dimensions” where meaning arises not from the author’s intent but from the reader’s interaction with the work. Joobeur’s meticulous mise-en-scène and Gonneville’s evocative cinematography offer fertile ground for these interactions, crafting visual and narrative gaps that the audience must fill themselves. The niqab-wearing Reem, for instance, is portrayed as a figure whose silence and presence elicit contrasting interpretations—some perceive her as embodying quiet resilience and agency, while others project notions of subjugation onto her, revealing their own biases and cultural frameworks without the narrative explicitly endorsing any singular perspective.
Viewer Agency in Reconstructing Meaning
One of the most controversial elements of Who Do I Belong To is its treatment of Islam and its intersection with identity for perpetuating Western stereotypes, arguing that it reinforces Islamophobic tropes by framing Reem as “demonic” and Mehdi as a “fallen son” corrupted by extremism.
However, other interpretations frame the film as a critique of post-revolution Tunisia and the socio-political forces that fracture families and communities. This duality underscores how the film’s meaning is shaped as much by the audience’s cultural and ideological frameworks as by its narrative content.
The film’s fragmented third act, which blends magical realism and murder mystery, further underscores the decentralization of authorial control. Aïcha’s visionary dreams and the unresolved tensions surrounding Reem’s identity leave viewers grasping for coherence, forcing them to actively construct their own understanding of the narrative.
This aligns with Barthes’ notion that the “birth of the reader must be at the cost of the death of the Author.” Joobeur’s deliberate ambiguity empowers audiences to project their own meanings onto the film, transforming it into a mirror that reflects their anxieties, prejudices, and aspirations.
The Role of Symbolism and Cultural Context
The film’s heavy reliance on symbolism complicates any attempt to tether its meaning to Joobeur’s original vision. For example, the recurring imagery of stray sheep, operates on multiple levels. To some, it may signify Adam’s budding independence and his father’s longing for an obedient son; to others, it may represent Tunisia’s fractured society, torn between tradition and modernity. These layered interpretations demonstrate how the film’s symbols function as open-ended signifiers, resisting definitive explanation.
Moreover, the film’s depiction of familial and societal roles invites a broader examination of cultural and philosophical questions.
Aïcha’s question, “Who Do I belong To” reverberates throughout the narrative, resonating with audiences who have grappled with the dissolution of traditional family structures or the search for identity in a rapidly changing world.
By situating these universal themes within a specifically Tunisian context, Joobeur creates a work that is simultaneously local and global, its meaning contingent on the viewer’s cultural and emotional resonance.
In Who Do I Belong To, Meryam Joobeur has crafted a film that resists easy categorization and definitive interpretation. Its narrative ambiguities, symbolic richness, and cultural specificity invite audiences to become co-creators of meaning, interpreting the film through their own lenses and experiences. By embracing the principles of Death of the Author, viewers can liberate themselves from the constraints of authorial intent and engage with the film as a living, dynamic text. In doing so, they honor the complexity of Joobeur’s work while asserting their own agency as interpreters. Ultimately, Who Do I Belong To belongs to no one — and to everyone.
Adem Lazreg
