There are at least two phrases that should be excluded from the phrasebook of any serious film-lover.
The first one is "adds nothing new to" - which you can easily use when you liked the plot, but feel yourself too high-brow to admit it. And the second one "nothing special" which comes handy in those cases when you are too lazy to make an analysis.
Yes, we have seen this kind of plot before, but it seems there is the need to tell it one more time for some tensions between Lebanon and Syria. At least that will add something new, as the writers need to transpose the plot to local circumstances. Local viewers might recognize their own history, but when a non-initiated viewer (as I am) gets interested, it is an indication that something interesting is happening. "Mahbas" invited me to a house in Lebanon - and that is fascinating in its own right.
The main character is Therese, a woman in her 50s. Her brother was killed by a Syrian bomb ages ago. Since then she hates anything from Syria. The dead brother is present everywhere in the house and talks all the time to Therese. Her husband is the mayor of the community. It is perhaps not very surprising that he plans a weekend-trip to Istanbul with his secretary. The daughter of the house, Ghada, is studying in Dubai. There she has met her fiancé, Riad, a man from Syria. Riad's parents are not too happy about this liaison either, but they agree to visit. However, nobody had the nerve to tell Therese about the nationality of her future son-in-law.
Of course this leads to several awkward situations. Some might fnd that there is overacting, but it is rather something different. is going on. Here are ordinary people performing a show of 'no problem, everything is OK' for themselves and their guests/hosts. Of course this needs to be false and pretentious.
Therese tries different tricks to avoid the marriage, but at least she has to understand that it is useless to fight a battle, she cannot win. This is a comedy after all, so this is not really astonishing. However, it is comedy that does not blend out the real world ("we have many different refugees here"). There is also a short moment when we are reminded of the brutal reality in Syria when Riad's mother takes fireworks for an attack. I wonder, if this is cooresponding to the amount the ordinary people in Lebanon will perceive such events. For us atrocities are the only thing we perceive from that part of the world.
Love wins at last, but even Ghada and Riad had their doubts, if their love is strong enough to overcome the mutual hatred and distrust of the parent-generation. So - let this be the message of this film.
8/10
The first one is "adds nothing new to" - which you can easily use when you liked the plot, but feel yourself too high-brow to admit it. And the second one "nothing special" which comes handy in those cases when you are too lazy to make an analysis.
Yes, we have seen this kind of plot before, but it seems there is the need to tell it one more time for some tensions between Lebanon and Syria. At least that will add something new, as the writers need to transpose the plot to local circumstances. Local viewers might recognize their own history, but when a non-initiated viewer (as I am) gets interested, it is an indication that something interesting is happening. "Mahbas" invited me to a house in Lebanon - and that is fascinating in its own right.
The main character is Therese, a woman in her 50s. Her brother was killed by a Syrian bomb ages ago. Since then she hates anything from Syria. The dead brother is present everywhere in the house and talks all the time to Therese. Her husband is the mayor of the community. It is perhaps not very surprising that he plans a weekend-trip to Istanbul with his secretary. The daughter of the house, Ghada, is studying in Dubai. There she has met her fiancé, Riad, a man from Syria. Riad's parents are not too happy about this liaison either, but they agree to visit. However, nobody had the nerve to tell Therese about the nationality of her future son-in-law.
Of course this leads to several awkward situations. Some might fnd that there is overacting, but it is rather something different. is going on. Here are ordinary people performing a show of 'no problem, everything is OK' for themselves and their guests/hosts. Of course this needs to be false and pretentious.
Therese tries different tricks to avoid the marriage, but at least she has to understand that it is useless to fight a battle, she cannot win. This is a comedy after all, so this is not really astonishing. However, it is comedy that does not blend out the real world ("we have many different refugees here"). There is also a short moment when we are reminded of the brutal reality in Syria when Riad's mother takes fireworks for an attack. I wonder, if this is cooresponding to the amount the ordinary people in Lebanon will perceive such events. For us atrocities are the only thing we perceive from that part of the world.
Love wins at last, but even Ghada and Riad had their doubts, if their love is strong enough to overcome the mutual hatred and distrust of the parent-generation. So - let this be the message of this film.
8/10
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