"Another Sky" & "À Perdre la Raison"

Watched these two films recently and both share a common theme of sorts - a spiritual search for personal peace in Morocco by 2 young European women in the throes of an emotional crisis. 'Another Sky' is a 1954 British film written and directed by the Hollywood-blacklisted Gavin Lambert and it's a supremely accomplished film on the emerging sexuality of a young British woman arriving in Morocco to work as a companion to a wealthy English expat woman. During the course of the film, which is gorgeously shot by Walter Lassaly, the young girl falls in love with an itinerant musician and must make a decision whether to abandon her comfortable known existence or to embrace life in the dusty Moroccan wilderness. It's a fascinating piece of mature film-making for its time and is hugely deserving of a wider audience I'd say.

'À Perdre la Raison', clumsily entitled 'Our Children' for the English release, is a masterful French film from 2012 by Joachim Lafosse that is based on a true story about a young woman who marries a Moroccan man with a secret whose life is intricately linked with a wealthy French benefactor. As they raise a family their living situation eventually becomes problematic and the chronically depressed woman finds herself yearning for Morocco and a simpler life. Unfortunately she cannot escape her life in Europe and is finally driven to extreme measures by her mental condition. The performances are all brilliant and Émilie Dequenne in particular is spellbinding. 

In both films the clash between the European and North African cultures is dealt with in an ambiguous, unhistrionic way and both films, although massively different in tone and style, have a lot to offer. Both I would recommend very highly indeed.