Saw this in Seattle this week as part of Seattle Film's Global Lens series. To me this felt like someone's art/film school project. A lot of long drawn out pauses, and pseudo-artistic shots with very little character development. The story was decent enough, with the war in Beirut as a very dim backdrop at best (I was disappointed to not have been drawn into the conflict at all -- there were occasional shots of tanks, and a few scenes filmed in a basement with the sounds of artillery). Had there been a reasonable amount of character development, I might have cared more about what happened in the end. All of the Men in the film seemed to be characterised as selfish and cold, and most of the women seemed helpless (with the exception of the aunt who was an incredibly unlikable tyrant).
2 Reviews
A young girl in two wars
merci440420 August 2004
Warning: Spoilers
This film, which was premiered in Cannes Film Festival (outside the main competition) is about a 12 years old girl (Marianne Feghali) who is in 1983 (in the midst of Lebanese civil war) is witnessing two wars not one. The first of course being the civil war itself in the divided city of Beirut, and one within herself. Her father is a gambler and her mother is tired of him. All the family fortune is spent on his addiction until there is none. In the same time, she has only one friend to go out with and talk to: she is the maid of her aunt. That is an old woman who mistreats the maid and abuse her verbally. The maid has her own plans. She wants to run away with a young guy who she likes. Our little girl doesn't like that and in order to keep the maid stay she tell her aunt on her. The director tells her own story here. Danielle Arbid, who directed shorts before, deals with a world that she experienced as cruel and not fair. And the good thing is she is part of it. M. Rouda
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