Director
Nadine Labaki
(WHERE DO WE GO NOW? CARAMEL)

Stars
Zain Al Rafeea, Yordanos Shiferaw, Boluwatife Treasure Bankole, Kawthar Al Haddad Bankole, Fadi Kamel Youssef, Alaa Chouchnieh and Haita ‘Cedra’ Izam

Each of our struggles in life are most profound and personal to us. Whether it be health challenges, financial difficulties, the loss of a loved one, or something other than, nobody else is entitled to measure the weight of such occurrences that impact you. However, you are guaranteed to have your own struggles put into perspective and reshaped after witnessing the deprived conditions and daily grind that this film’s characters must endure to merely survive.

Though a work of fiction, CAPHARNAÜM is based upon true experiences and derived from hours upon hours of real footage filmed by Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaki. The cast consist of non-professional actors whose backgrounds are similar to the characters they portray, led by a streetwise twelve-year boy named Zain (played by Syrian refugee Zain Al Rafeea). When we meet Zain, he is beginning a five-year sentence at a juvenile prison. While in court, he also advises a judge that he wishes to sue his parents for giving him life! The film then retraces Zain’s life prior to this and details the circumstances that led him to the crime he commits.

Without a doubt, what makes CAPHARNAÜM so special are those genuine observations made by the camera and their amalgamation with the protagonist’s story to truly emphasise its point. These components of the film are above and beyond in their endeavours to provide eye-opening insight into the daily lives of displaced and deprived refugees. As viewers, we come as close as we can via a screen to experiencing their hardships and hopes. Largely via Zain, who is the absolute heart and soul of this exceptional picture. This adorable, admirable and resilient boy has had his childhood truncated and adulthood fast-tracked. Zain can’t attend school so that he can work to help financially support his large family, who are all living together inside a small and run-down apartment. He is also more protective of his younger sister, Sahar (pictured together below) than what his parents are.

At the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, CAPHARNAÜM was the recipient of a 15 minute standing ovation, where it was awarded the Jury Prize. More recently, it has deservedly been nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2019 Academy Awards.

This really is an extraordinary film. Sure enough, CAPHARNAÜM can be tough to witness and will provoke an emotional response from its viewers, as it ought to. Though sometimes heartbreaking to watch, CAPHARNAÜM‘s indisputable point stands heads and shoulders above any emotional responses it will trigger. Furthermore, there are welcomed additions of warmth and humour throughout. The writing and some of the characters (especially Zain) do often lift the spirits. All of the acting from the untrained cast is as strikingly authentic as the unloved and unforgiving part of the world seen here.

4 ½ stars

Viewer Discretion
M (Mature themes and coarse language)

Trailer
CAPHARNAÜM

Moviedoc thanks Madman for the invite to the screening of this film.

Opens nationally Feb 7th

Review by Leigh for Moviedoc
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