Capharnaüm

Also known as: Capernaum, Chaos

Genre: social drama  

With: Zain Al Rafeea (Zain Al Hajj), Yordanos Shiferaw (Rahil, a.k.a. Tigest), Boluwatife Treasure Bankole (Yonas, Rahil’s baby), Kawsar Al Haddad (Souad Al Hajj, Zain’s father), Fadi Yousef (Selim, Zain’s mother), Cedra Izzam (Sahar, Zain’s sister), Alaa Chouchnieh (Aspro the wheeler-dealer), Elias Khoury (the Judge), Nour El Husseini (Assaad the grocer), Tamer Ibrahim (Abou Assaad, the grocer’s father)

Director: Nadine Labaki

Screenplay: Nadine Labaki, Jihad Hojeily, Michelle Keserwany

Release: 2018

Studio: Mooz Films, Doha Film Institute, KNM Films, Boo Pictures, Synchronicity Films et al.

Rating: R

MBiS score: 8.7/10 

 

Delinquent with a Cause 

 

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Story-line: a 12-year-old Lebanese boy convicted of attempted murder forces his parents to appear in court so he can settle accounts with them.

Pluses: outstanding acting by Zain Al Rafeea (as the streetwise and resourceful Zain), Cedra Izzam (his loving sister), Boluwatife Treasure Bankole (adorable in a prominent role) and a strong cast of grown-ups, remarkable direction by an important Lebanese helmer, a restless, forceful and far-reaching screenplay that raises issues of parental neglect, poverty and survival, Christopher Aoun’s startlingly informative camera work, irreproachable production values and a beautiful, tormented musical score by Khaled Mouzanar.

Minuses: this movie is quite bleak… but so involving that you will drink in everything on screen. The comments on the movie poster above are all true.

Comments: it took me four minutes − those bracing scenes of Zain and immigrant women at the police station and that spectacular drone shot of kids running in the streets of a Lebanese city − to realize why the tragic and utterly pathetic CAPHARNAÜM garnered the Prix du jury at the Cannes Film Festival. In its careful recounting of Zain’s childhood and tribulations in a careless world, it balances misery, lawlessness and exploitation with nobility and courage in a believable and visually breathtaking way. Nadine Labaki, always a fine director, can be especially proud of this accomplished motion picture, one of the many gems produced by contemporary international cinema. Bravo Nadine! 

 

MBiS 

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