Capharnaüm

Capharnaüm or Capernaum is a confusing title. Merriam Webster defines capharnaum as a confused jumble or a place marked by a disorderly accumulation of objects. While chaos is an apt description of the situations the title really doesn't do justice to this political film about the effect on children of poverty and poor parenting decisions.

Ostensibly Capharnaüm is a courtroom drama as approximately 12-year-old Zain sues his parents in a Lebanese court. But this is just a framing device for telling the story in an extended flashback. The story of a few weeks of Zain's life and family and by extension the story of the bottom rungs of Lebanese society, especially its children. Zain's parents can't remember what year he was born. He has a lot of siblings and being the eldest still at home he feels responsible for the others, especially his 11-year-old sister Sahar. The family lives in a small, dirty apartment owned by a local shopkeeper who has the hots for Sahar and for whom Zain works for as a delivery boy. Zain's mother runs a small-time drug smuggling operation involving the kids, who also sell juice to commuters at rush hour. Zain's father's occupation is not mentioned.

As bad as the initial situation is it gets worse when Zain runs away from home in anger after an unsuccessful attempt to protect Sahar. Eventually, Zain ends up living on the streets trying to look after a refugee toddler when its mother disappears, presumably arrested.

Much of the cast are not previously professional actors and Zain, in particular, who is in almost every scene pulls off an amazing performance. His character's resourcefulness, cynicism, anger and compassion drive the story. While the subject matter is depressing, this is not really a depressing story. Zain's go-with-your-gut instinct approach to life is too much fun to watch. I can only dream of coping with the bad things in life with the aplomb that he does.

Other reviews are divided into those that say that Capharnaüm is too sentimental and emotionally manipulative and those that say it is unsentimental and gritty (and in defence point out that emotional manipulation is at the core of filmmaking). I wonder if the divide is actually between those that were made uncomfortable and wanted to dis the film and its message versus those who accept the dual attack on parents and the system that leads to poverty and refugees. I presume that director Nadine Labaki (who has a bit part in this film and previously started in 2008's Caramel) made this film for a Lebanese audience, a country with 4 million Lebanese and 2 million refugees (mostly from Syria). We are not used to hearing from Lebanese about refugees, which contrasts with the endless reports crisis caused by 1 million Syrian and African refugees arriving in the EU with its population of 500 million.

Ian's rating 5/5 Anne's rating 4/5