West Beirut ***
not rated Cowboy Booking International 105 minutes in Lebanese with English subtitles starring Rami Doueiri, Mohamad Chamas, Rola Al Amin, Carmen Lebbos, Joseph Bou Nassar, Liliane Nemry, Leila Karam written and directed by Ziad Doueiri
Ziad Doueiri is best known in the U.S. for being the cameraman for Quentin Tarantino's films. But there is a story behind every person (even in Hollywood). Doueiri has used his filmmaking experience to bring his true childhood experiences to the screen in the poignant "West Beirut". The film takes place in Beirut, Lebanon in 1975, where a civil war is breaking out. For Tarek (Rami Doueiri) and Omar (Mohamad Chamas), the cancellation of school brings a newfound freedom. They roam the streets of the war-torn city, making Super 8 films and generally causing mischief. The kids don't realize the seriousness of the war, which has separated their city into two sections; East (Christian) and West (Muslim) Beirut. Doueiri also focuses on the tensions surrounding Tarek's parents. His father (Joseph Bou Nassar) has faith in Beirut and will not leave, while his mother (Carmen Lebbos) is overcome with tension and stays only because she seems to have no choice. For most of its 105 minute running time, "West Beirut" is a vivid, involving slice of life showing us a city in turmoil. However, in the final third of the film, the lack of a clear plot undermines the realism, and the characters find themselves in far-fetched situations. I would rather have had Doueiri let the story tell itself. In the press notes, Doueiri remarks that he made the film from memory of certain images, and not from memory of a story. But the images are definitely there, and "West Beirut" is at times very moving. The story behind the film is just as interesting as the film itself. For the child actors, Doueiri chose his brother, Rami, to play his alter-ego, and chose Mohamad Chamas, a penniless orphan, to play his childhood friend. Chamas now lives in a shack in a Beirut refugee camp. His only close relative, a brother, is in jail. The images in "West Beirut" are therefore very real. Ziad Doueri's debut film is flawed, but it is a coming-of-age picture made with care and relevance. In the early 1980's, Doueiri fled Lebanon and went to USC Film School. Others will never be that lucky, and this film is for them.
a capsule review by Akiva Gottlieb, The Teenage Movie Critic akiva@excite.com http://teenagemoviecritic.8m.com
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews