UNDER THE BOMBS (Lebanon/France/UK/Belgium, 2007). Wednesday, 19th November 2008UNDER THE BOMBS
France/Lebanon/UK/Belgium, 2007. Directed by Philippe Aractingi
from a screenplay by Michel Léviant and himself. Photography (Colour):
Nidal Abdel Khalek. Music: René Aubry and Lazare Bogossian.
Certificate: “15”. Length: 99 minutes. Leading Players:
GEORGES KHABBAZ (Tony), NADA ABOU FARHAT (Zeina),
RAWYA EL CHAB (Hotel Receptionist), BSHARA ATALLAH (Journalist).
The title of Philippe Aractingi’s film is both absolutely apt and arguably misleading. I say that because this is a deeply humane work that reminds me of Le Grand Voyage, that very successful film about a father and son travelling to Mecca which we screened in January 2007. Under The Bombs suggests something less individual although, when you think about it, the title does point to the impact of war on civilians rather than on soldiers. Even so, one is somehow reminded of bleak war films centred on military action which, however well meant, are arguably over-familiar. Aractingi’s tale, almost a two-hander, is very different. It’s about two people on a journey, people of very different backgrounds who come to a greater understanding of one another consequent on spending time together in exceptional circumstances. While wishing in this film to confront the situation of those living in Beirut, Aractingi significantly made this remark: “In my film I avoided showing dead bodies: we’ve seen too many of them”.
By now it is probably clear why Le Grand Voyage came to mind while I was watching Under The Bombs. Both films feature two people on a shared car journey who find that their attitude to each other is gradually changing. This time, however, we are dealing not with a father and a son but with two people who are strangers to one another. Zeina is a Shiite who, as the film opens, is returning to Beirut. It is 2006 and she is involved in divorce proceedings. It had seemed a very sensible move to arrange for her son, Karim, to be looked after by her sister for the time being, this being a means of protecting him from the tensions of the divorce. Furthermore, her sister had been well placed to take the six year old boy into her village home in Southern Lebanon. But that was then and this is now and she is back in Lebanon having flown in from Dubai by way of Turkey because she has learnt that war has broken out again. Zeina arrives in Beirut just as a ceasefire is announced but the roads to the south remain highly dangerous. That’s both because they have been damaged in the hostilities and also on account of the risk that comes from unexploded bombs. Not surprisingly, therefore, Zeina finds it difficult to locate anyone willing to transport her to her sister’s village of Kherbet Selem. However, one taxi driver, a Christian living in Beirut and with a brother in Israel, is prepared to take her. He is influenced by the fact that in the circumstances a much higher charge than usual can be justified. The driver is Tony (Georges Khabbaz) and he insists on an up-front payment.
To start with this is very much a business arrangement, and it largely remains that way when Tony agrees to extend the use of his services. This becomes necessary because when they reach the village Zeina finds that her sister’s house has been destroyed by bombs. There have been many such victims locally and in the circumstances any bodies not clearly identified are being heaped together for a mass burial. To avoid this becoming her sister’s fate, Zeina is anxious to find and identify the body if at all possible. Nevertheless, something else is foremost in her mind. She has been told that there were French journalists in the area and it is believed that Karim had survived and had been taken away by them. The trail that thus opens up does not peter out but is eventually extended when subsequent enquiries lead to mention of a child thought to have been taken to a convent. Consequently it is that convent that becomes the final goal in a journey that grows ever more hazardous.
Philippe Aractingi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Michel Léviant as well as directing, was himself born in Beirut in 1964 and is of Franco-Lebanese origin. He has travelled the world making films, many of them documentaries, but France was his base for twelve years and it was only in 2005 that he returned to Lebanon and began to make features. The first of these, Bosta, was a musical. In following that film with Under The Bombs he was finding an outlet to express his distress at the sight of seeing his country once again suffering through war. Filmgoers with long memories may recall Circle of Deceit starring Bruno Ganz which, directed by Volker Schlöndorff in 1981, memorably caught on camera the devastation of Beirut. That a comparable film could appear so many years later underlines the tragedy of Lebanon.
The way in which Under The Bombs was filmed is in itself remarkable. The shooting of the movie commenced just ten days after 12th July 2006 when the war began. The two leading roles were assigned to actors well known as stars of Lebanese television and theatre but the film went ahead without a formal script and the aim was to capture the reality of a war-torn country by filming on the spot and incorporating comments from those living there. Thus there are no professional actors other than the two leads while the colour photography by Nidal Abdel Khalek vividly captures the authentic feel of the place. Nevertheless, Aractingi’s special achievement is to find a perfect balance between the personal drama of the tale he has elected to tell and Lebanon’s own tragedy. His judgment is admirably acute. If this were a Hollywood production, there’s little doubt but that the rapport which grows between Zeina and her driver would be developed into a love story, but Aractingi is too subtle to move obviously in that direction. Indeed the only sex scene in the film involves Tony with a hotel receptionist (Rawya El Chab) whom he has encountered before. Similarly the resolution when it comes is finely judged, but I shall naturally refrain from even hinting how the story ends.
Under the Bombs contains a number of references specific to the time and place – references to the length of time that conflicts have dominated in this region, to Hezbollah and to the bombing carried out by Israelis. But this is not a political document and nor is it a film dealing with one particular situation. Rather it emerges as a humanist’s reflection on the inhumanity of war and on the human suffering that results from it. To combine this effectively with an individual tale that is fictional yet essentially true to life is not easy. Fortunately Aractingi’s skills match his commitment and he ensures that his chosen story comes across as representative of the wider actuality of life in Lebanon in the 21st century. One small scene is particularly worthy of note not because it is of obvious importance but because it is there. It’s an episode in which Tony gives a lift to an old man who is a stranger. It’s a moment in the film which, without seeming specially relevant, actually pinpoints the belief in common humanity which lies at the heart of Aractingi’s film.
Winner of Three Awards including the Premio EIUC Human Rights Film Award.
“Hugely moving… revelatory stuff” – Daily Telegraph.
“Brilliantly merges documentary and realist cinema to tell us a rare truth. You can’t ask more of a film.” – John Pilger.
“Excellent performances… horrifying and moving”
– Derek Malcolm, Evening Standard.
“A courageous film that needed to be made” – Ken Loach.
“Full of sharp detail and extremely moving” – Philip French, The Observer.
Programme Note by Mansel Stimpson.
