Monthly Archives: February 2013

Racist Lebanese Municipalities & Marwan Charbel’s Inadequacy

You’ve probably been inundated by picture of the town of Betchay in the Baabda district who issued an impromptu curfew on “foreigners.” It is reminiscent of something the municipality of Bhamdoun did back in August which was more precise and didn’t nearly get the same attention (link) – the issue of the Syrian refugees hadn’t been this thorny back then.

The picture below is of the banner in the town that has gotten the country talking:

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What you may not already know is that the issue hasn’t been exclusive to Lebanon’s online community with us discussing it over and over again and the issue not reaching any form of “higher” authority.
Lebanon’s ministry of interior Marwan Charbel knows about the municipality of Bechtay’s decision. He knows it’s illegal for them do so. But he won’t take any measures. If you don’t believe me, check out the following picture I took of the highlights of his interview with LBC:

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To “clarify” his decision not to pursue the illegal matter, he said it could be the municipality’s way of pressuring those who might want to mess with its security.
As if that is remotely acceptable.

The Municipality of Betchay is racist, yes. Their mayor went on TV to say the following: “We obviously mean Syrians with “foreigners” because French and Europeans won’t be driving Vespas after hours in our village.”
And despite such statements, our minister of interior still wants to let things slide. What can you expect from someone who believes a bomb exploding in Tripoli is “a bunch of people playing with it?”

The problem isn’t that the municipality has a backward mentality that should not be accepted. It’s with an administration that is so entrenched in apathy that they’d rather let such grave violations slide without doing anything about it.

I don’t care what the municipality of Betchay’s justification behind such a banner and decision is. If any entity in this country, especially one that is supposed to run the affairs of other people, broke laws in such a flagrant way, it should face the repercussions that such illegalities entail. It shouldn’t face an over-philosophical minister who doesn’t want to do anything about it.

Lebanon currently has over 300,000 Syrian refugees. They are spread across the land. All our towns have Syrians currently in our midst. The difference is our towns didn’t see it fit to break the law in order to prove a point that is mute to say the least. Not that it would matter anyway with Marwan Charbel in charge.

Let’s categorize this as a massive failure in humongous scales. Now who wants to play hide and seek with a few Khaybar missiles? No one will mind.

Rejecting Ziad Doueiri’s The Attack

The Attack Ziad Doueiri

News of Lebanon’s refusal to submit Ziad Doueiri’s The Attack, a movie I had originally told you about here, to the Oscars is making the rounds. You can check all the details here (link).

If the movie had been banned from being shown in theaters here, the discussion would be different entirely. But is the movie really representative enough of Lebanon to be our submission for the Oscars? And is this refusal enough for us to call the committee responsible for such dealings ignorant and with a backward mentality?

I think not.

The movie features the following:

  • A story by an Algerian author.
  • No Lebanese crew.
  • Israeli and Palestinian actors.
  • Location of shooting is Israel.
  • Lebanese director with an American passport.

Would I want to see the movie? Definitely. Do I want it to represent Lebanon at the Academy Awards? Let’s just say I’m on the fence regarding this.

This isn’t exactly West Beirut for us to cry wolf for it not being submitted. If Ziad Doueiri truly wanted his movie to be Lebanon’s official submission to the 85th Academy Awards (my predictions – to lighten the mood), he could have at least made an effort to make the movie more Lebanese by maybe shooting it over here and not in Israel and having a Lebanese actor or actress play a role in it, despite both elements not being a criteria required for Academy Award approval.

As it stands, the only thing Lebanese about The Attack is the director who wouldn’t have been able to make this movie if he had actually employed his Lebanese aspect from a bureaucratic point of view. The director says his choices regarding the movie’s components are logical.

Well, I say the committee’s decision is entirely logical as well. Not everything is supposed to be turned into a national matter of censorship.

 

2013 Oscar Predictions

The 85th Academy Awards are held tonight so I figured I’d throw in my predictions as to who will win and who should win some major categories. It’s not Oscar night without a few predictions to go wrong, am I right?

I’m glad this year’s Oscars fall on the unpredictable side – there’s no absolute frontrunner in most of the categories so the night should be interesting to say the least.

Without further ado, let’s begin.

Best Picture Academy Awards Oscars 2013

  • Who Will Win: Argo
  • Who Should Win: Amour

Amour (review) is, hands-down, the best movie of the year. It won’t win because of the way the Oscars are run. So we are left with the movie that has been picking up best picture awards here and there: Argo (review). I don’t get it really. There are two other movies on that list that I believe are more deserving (Lincoln and Silver Linings Playbook) but you cannot underestimate momentum.

Best Director Academy Awards Oscars 2013

 

  • Who Will Win: Steven Spielberg
  • Who Should Win: Michael Haneke

Out of all the nominated directors in this category, Haneke managed to turn a simple story of old age into a spellbinding movie that captured everyone’s heart and mind. With little special effects, a Parisian apartment, his camera and two great leads, Haneke created Amour. But seeing as his nomination was a surprise by itself, expecting him to win what he deserves is far-fetched. So Academy Award-darling Spielberg with what is arguably his best movie in years will take it.

Best Actor Academy Awards Oscars 2013

 

  • Who Will Win: Daniel Day Lewis
  • Who Should Win: Daniel Day Lewis

I don’t believe this needs any explanation. What a brilliant performance.

Best Actress Academy Awards Oscars 2013

 

  • Who Will Win: Emmanuelle Riva
  • Who Should Win: Emmanuelle Riva

Next to the Best Picture race, this will be the night’s most interesting. What started out as a two-horse race with Jessica Chastain and Jennifer Lawrence battling it out for coveted awards soon turned into a three-way race as veteran actress Emmanuelle Riva took the BAFTA and later on the French César. At an age of 85, many voters will probably go for Riva because it’s now or never for her. Chastain and Lawrence will get their shot one day. The mere fact that Emmanuelle Riva is present on that list means there are enough Academy members who want her. It’s also her birthday today. HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMMANUELLE!

Best Supporting Actor Academy Awards Oscars 2013

 

  • Who Will Win: Tommy Lee Jones
  • Who Should Win: Tommy Lee Jones

Tommy Lee Jones gave what is, in my opinion, the best performance out of the bunch. Pre-Oscar awards have been spread around this bunch of nominees in a balanced way so no clear frontrunner has emerged but I think Lincoln‘s (review) momentum will help Jones take another Oscar. Every single nominee in this list has won before.

Best Supporting Actress Academy Awards Oscars 2013

 

  • Who Will Win: Anne Hathaway
  • Who Should Win: Anne Hathaway

There’s no denying Hathaway deserves this. She owned the entire Les Misérables (review) with her chilling performance of “I Dreamed A Dream.” The movie starts dying when her character dies. No one else in this category is as deserving and she has basically won every single pre-Oscar award there is.

Original Screenplay Academy Awards Oscars 2013

  • Who Will Win: Quentin Tarantino
  • Who Should Win: Michael Haneke

There’s something understated about turning a simple story into a work of art, which is what Haneke did with his story in Amour. But unfortunately, that’s not the kind that usually triumphs. I expect Tarantino to come out triumphant for Django Unchained (review).

Adapted Screenplay Academy Awards Oscars 2013

  • Who Will Win: Argo
  • Who Should Win: Silver Linings Playbook

Argo has the momentum. Silver Linings Playbook (review) has the superior quality and the charm. Momentum wins.

Animated Film Academy Awards Oscars 2013

 

Who Will Win: Frankenweenie

Who Should Win: Wreck-It Ralph

I found Wreck-It Ralph to be one of the most charming – and best – movies of the year. It is what I expect from an animated movie to be. Frankenweenie, on the other hand, is what plays on the Academy’s strings: homage to classics, daring technique, etc. It’s obvious who’d  win in such a match-up.

Original Song Academy Awards Oscars 2013

  • Who Will Win: Adele
  • Who Should Win: Adele

I can’t wait to hear her acceptance speech.

Foreign Language Film Academy Awards Oscars 2013

  • Who Will Win: Amour
  • Who Should Win: Amour

The fact that it’s nominated for best picture, best actress, best director and best original screenplay is hint enough.

Details On The Guns N’ Roses Concert in Lebanon

Guns N' Roses concert Lebanon Beirut

You all know that one of the world’s best rock groups is coming to Lebanon. Well, I’ve got some extra details for the concerts that you might be interested in.

  • Location: Forum de Beyrouth
  • Date: March 30th,
  • Ticket prices: General Admission: 55$ or 82,500 LBP, zone A and B (Green): 100$ or 150,000 LBP, zone A (Blue): 120$ or 180,000 LBP, golden Circle: 150$ or 225,000 LBP, zone A and B (Pink): 200$ or 300,000 LB, lounge Access: 200$ or 300,000 LBP.
  • Ticket sale: Begins February 25th (tomorrow) from Virgin Ticketing Box Office
  • Bande’s lineup: Axl Rose, Dizzy Reed, Chris Pitman, Frank Ferrer, Richard Fortus, Tommy Stinson, Ron Thal, DJ Ashba.
  • Doors open: 6 pm.

A presale for those of you who are very interested is currently available through this website (click). You can call 70488170 or e-mail them on Info@Presella.com.

You can now buy the tickets from Virgin by clicking on this link.

This is the link for the Facebook event.

Thank you Frodo’s blog (link) for the info.

Ossit Sawani (Blind Intersections) [2013] – Movie Review

ossit-sawani-blind-intersections movie poster

Never since Nadine Labaki’s first movie Caramel have we had a decent Lebanese movie that doesn’t dwell on the Lebanese Civil War and Lebanon’s religious diversity. Some moviemakers tried to branch out and portray other aspects of society but their handling of the issue was either too shallow, too pretentious or downright silly. Until this came along.

Ossit Sawani – its English title being Blind Intersection – is not a movie about religion or the civil war. Thank God for that. It is the cross examination of the lives of three main people in Beirut as they go about key moments of their lives. Nour is an engineering student who is about to graduate when she loses both her parents in a car accident. She is left to take care of her elderly grandma with no financial means to do so. Karim is a young schoolboy who is the victim of maternal abuse and repeated child molestation as his body is sold for the next door grocer. India is a well-off western-mentality woman trying to conceive while attempting to give back to her community by teaching needy students at one of Lebanon’s government-run schools.

The movie is the story of how the lives of these characters intersect without them realizing – how the actions of one affect the other and shape their lives indefinitely. It is not a plot device that you haven’t seen before but it is the first time it’s used in a Lebanese movie. The scenes are jumbled and do not fall in chronological order. In a way, each character’s story has its own timeframe and you need to situate yourself accordingly in order to understand what’s happening.

Some of the scenes were a little dragged out or unnecessary. Other scenes felt out of the place but once you get into the mindset of what the movie is trying to say, it flows rather smoothly despite a few hiccups after an admittedly strong opening sequence with Nour going to the hospital where she finds out both her parents had passed away.

In a way, Ossit Sawani may not feel like a Lebanese movie at all because of what we have come to associate Lebanese movies with. But it is one. The city is Beirut. The dialect is Lebanese (I still don’t get why they feel like they need to give us English subtitles). The people are relatable. From a child trying to block out the sound of his mother having sex in the next room to shower sex scenes to subtle portrayal of the act of child molestation, Ossit Sawani is quite daring for what we have come to assume Lebanese movies are limited for. The extent that this movie goes to with regards to sex is proof enough that other movies such as Beirut Hotel were not banned because of nudity but because of their underlying political message.

Ossit Sawani is enjoyable enough for it to be worth the admission price but it eventually falls off very flat as the stories never seem to find a way to be resolved, open-endedness being another plot device employed. While that worked in Nadine Labaki’s Caramel as you felt the story arcs had sufficient material to feel substantial enough, the three stories in Ossit Sawani never feel complete or resolved, leaving you feeling let down as the credits start rolling.

Is it the Lebanese movie to bring the masses to the cinema? I doubt. At the end of the day, it attempts to be a gut-wrenching portrayal of modern Lebanese society woes but comes short. It tries to infuse a little humor here and there with some characters but the story is too grim to have that work as well. Ossit Sawani could have been much more than it turned out to be. However, it is a good sign that some Lebanese filmmakers have decided to branch out from the mold and actually do a decent job at it. Give Ossit Sawani a chance – you might be positively surprised.

3/5