The Gravedigger's Wife (2021)

Tender and compassionate tale of family life in Somalia. - The Gravedigger's Wife review by PD

In one of many striking scenes, a group of shabbily dressed men, each carrying a shovel, wait outside a hospital in Djibouti City, Somalia, in the faint hope that someone will die. They are professional gravediggers, and their living depends upon being at hand when a corpse becomes available. Their friendly banter is an odd contrast to both their grim profession and their poverty. This is the gritty reality that provides the context to director Khadar Ayderus Ahmed’s first feature.

The central character is Guled (Omar Abdi). Despite the family’s extreme poverty, Guled has been content with his life, until his beloved wife, Nasra, became ill with a kidney disease. Nasra is resigned, but Guled still hopes to find a way to save her, and his efforts make up the central thread of the story. Nasra is played by fashion model Yasmin Warsame in her first acting role, and she perfectly captures Nasra’s charm, her calm acceptance of her fate, and her love for her family, as well as her chemistry with Guled. Their close relationship comes across beautifully, especially during their few light-hearted moments, as when they playfully try to crash a wedding, discuss their son, or simply chat and reminisce as they cook dinner together at home. These scenes are essential; the couple’s attachment seems to raise them above their obvious poverty, and it is the force behind Guled’s actions in the remainder of the film.

The story follows Guled as he searches for a way to raise the money for his wife’s surgery, becoming increasingly desperate and finally settling on a difficult solution involving a punishing journey on foot through the desert, presented almost in the form of a quest or pilgrimage. As he travels, the film follows what is happening at home with his wife and son Mahad, who sets aside his boyish unruliness and devotes himself to caring for his mother in simple but heartwarming family scenes. In contrast, Guled’s efforts become more rigorous and increasingly hopeless, and he may have to face the prospect of returning home empty handed. Guled’s absence allows for a moving turn in the story, in which details of Guled and Nasra’s courtship and marriage are described through alternating scenes: of the bedridden Nasra telling the story to her son, and of Guled pausing in his journey to relate his version to fellow travellers. The circumstances of their marriage, as it turns out, partly explains their poverty, and adds depth to the realities of their home life.

Ahmed has commented on his wish to present these characters “with dignity, compassion and tenderness", and in this he certainly succeeds. Powerful work.