This film was premiered the day before yesterday at the Film Festival in Venice, but thanks to the generosity of the festival, I am able to screen it in my living room. It was wonderful to be close to a major event and to see a film that hasn't even got a listing on IMDb. It's like sitting in the first row.
However, there is also a disadvantage, as very little information is available on this movie, so I am somewhat hermeneutically confused.
Martyr is about Hassane, a young man in Beirut. He should shoulder some responsibility, say his parents, but he prefers to hang out at the beach with his buddies.
On the page of the Biennale I found this comment by the director:
His friends carry him home. The scenery looks very much like those we often see on TV when victims of attacks are carried through the streets. At home Hassane is declared a martyr. (I have checked it: yes, drowned people have the status of martyrs.
So - what is the message? I think, it is about making the best of one's life. Martyrdom is escape; being passive is also not changing anything. So - without claiming that I have understood the film - I think it is a message about making the best of life.
This film has extremely beautiful pictures. It starts with a dream of Hassane floating in the pocean (about five minutes). It also gives itself time. You could say that this is fitting, as their life is very slow. Sometimes I have, however, the suspicion the film is so slow, because the director hasn't enough to say to fill up the time.
Men and women are mourning in different rooms. There is a song (to me it sounds like a prayer) and a scene that looks like a scene from a modern ballet. The women's mourning features also a song. (I have not the knowledge to identify these pieces, but I really wished, I had someone with whom I could discuss these issues. Another cultural subtext I miss is the meaning of the sea for Arabs. As in Personal Affairs, where someone misses an audition, because the sea is so fascinating for him. I want to know, but wheer to get such knowledge.)
Martyr is an exquisite æsthetic experience. The visual aspect is very delicate and beautiful, but access to the content demands perhaps specific cultural knowledge.
7/10
However, there is also a disadvantage, as very little information is available on this movie, so I am somewhat hermeneutically confused.
Martyr is about Hassane, a young man in Beirut. He should shoulder some responsibility, say his parents, but he prefers to hang out at the beach with his buddies.
On the page of the Biennale I found this comment by the director:
The sea is their liberty, their escape. The corniche is where they brush up against society, but it is also where they turn their naked backs to it, and jump into the vastness of the horizon.Hassane mentions that he has seen Mahdi ans his companions. He compares their lives with his and says that they have glory, while he has only his parents' living room. I think, he is referring to militias and the prospect of becoming a "blood martyr". Hassane also wants to jump into the vastness of the ocean, but drowns.
His friends carry him home. The scenery looks very much like those we often see on TV when victims of attacks are carried through the streets. At home Hassane is declared a martyr. (I have checked it: yes, drowned people have the status of martyrs.
So - what is the message? I think, it is about making the best of one's life. Martyrdom is escape; being passive is also not changing anything. So - without claiming that I have understood the film - I think it is a message about making the best of life.
This film has extremely beautiful pictures. It starts with a dream of Hassane floating in the pocean (about five minutes). It also gives itself time. You could say that this is fitting, as their life is very slow. Sometimes I have, however, the suspicion the film is so slow, because the director hasn't enough to say to fill up the time.
Men and women are mourning in different rooms. There is a song (to me it sounds like a prayer) and a scene that looks like a scene from a modern ballet. The women's mourning features also a song. (I have not the knowledge to identify these pieces, but I really wished, I had someone with whom I could discuss these issues. Another cultural subtext I miss is the meaning of the sea for Arabs. As in Personal Affairs, where someone misses an audition, because the sea is so fascinating for him. I want to know, but wheer to get such knowledge.)
Martyr is an exquisite æsthetic experience. The visual aspect is very delicate and beautiful, but access to the content demands perhaps specific cultural knowledge.
7/10
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