Review of Under the Bombs (2007) by Shiraz C — 26 Apr 2008

A fantastically executed film set in the immediate aftermath of the Israeli bombing of South Lebanon - their extraordinarily disproportionate response to the kidnapping of Isreali soldiers by Palestinian refugee cum Islamist movement, Hizbollah.

In a region dripping with the blood of bad political decisions, this film opts for impact not by looking at the political context, but by following the fate of a self-exiled woman who has come back from her rich lifestyle in Dubai to find her sister and her son in south Lebanon.

Structured like a road movie, the lead character is taken by a taxi driver as they move from place to precarious place in search of Zeina's family. The taxi driver becomes closely involved in his passenger's cause, and also makes a journey of personal change and discovery.

Four things make this film stand out: the stunning performance by the Nada Abou Farhat; the shaky hand-camera work that gives it a documentary feel; the use of Lebanese passer-bys throughout the film giving it a raw intensity; and the dramatic portrayal of the physical devastation of the landscape and the infrastructure, obviously filmed very soon after the bombing.

Although not directly political, this is a bold anti-war film that leaves one with a sense of how the war was, like all the conflicts in the region, most devastating for Arab civilians.