Capharnaum is the new precious gift to Lebanese cinema. Directed by Nadine Labaki and written by Labaki, Joelle Keserwani, Jihad Hojeily and Georges Khabbaz the movie follows the journey and the misery of a boy called Zain that led him to sue his parents for giving him life!
The movie took years to finish with a total of 500 hours of rushes filmed! Shot in a "Cinema Realité" style without any professional actors and with a raw cinematography you're going to witness the dark side of the country, the unacceptable neighborhoods, the unfair life that poor children are facing.
Everyone is absolutely well casted! Zain was the ultimate discovery a super talented boy, the Ethiopian maid was great also and even the real retired judge did a good job. Each actor is really telling his own personal story so you will arrive at a point where you couldn't differentiate if you're watching cinema, a written script or even a documentary. Wonderful job from Labaki and well deserved Jury Prize at Cannes!
Thumbs up also to Khaled Mouzanar for giving us another remarkable score. The movie is nothing less than heartbreaking.
As Truffaut freezed his last scene back in 1959 in "The 400 Blows" giving us some hope, the last shot of Capernaum will speak a lot...!