Under the Bombs: An eye-opener from Lebanon

Reviewer: James Van Maanen
Rating (out of 5): ****

Eye-opening in a number of ways, not to mention what it will do to your mind and heart, Under the Bombs (Sous les bombes) -- Lebanon's official selection for this past year's Best Foreign-Language Film Oscar -- is a first-rate film in every respect. It is only the second movie to be directed and written (this time with co-writer Michel Léviant ) by Philippe Aractingi, which makes its surety of tone and pacing even more impressive.

Taking place during the cease-fire after the reprisal bombings by Israel of Lebanon in 2006, the film begins as a very attractive woman (Nada Abou Farhat) hires a cab driver (Georges Khabbaz) to take her into the more dangerous southern part of the country. Why she has done this and what happens to her and her driver make up the story, which becomes both a "road" movie and a character study -- while providing viewers with a look at modern Lebanon, and its people, under siege.

We meet many friends of the taxi driver along the way, as well as an array of characters that he and his fare have need of, all of whom fascinate because of how unexpected they prove -- to western eyes, at least. Everything from their look to their attitude seems both surprising and real. A young female hotel clerk, the family that takes the pair in at their penultimate stop, women providing succor at a bomb site -- all of these help move the story along while forcing us to consider Lebanon anew. For instance, I did not know that Israel encouraged young Lebanese to fight for it and against their own country during one of its earlier incursions, then simply dropped the youngsters, who were seen forever after as traitors when Israel withdrew from Lebanon. (This makes an interesting parallel to how the USA encouraged Iraqis to fight against Saddam Hussein during our first Iraq war, and then left them targets for the dictator's deadly reprisals upon our withdrawal.)

The heart of the movie details the bond that forms between the cab driver and his fare, and it is handled very well, as the characters dole out bits of information and small but genuine feelings in a very believable one-step-forward, two-steps-back fashion. Ms Farhat and particularly Mr. Khabbaz (what a multi-faceted performance he gives!) are consistently moving and real as the puzzle of their characters' lives begins to piece together before us. Class, education and economics play their part here, too, making Under the Bombs one of the richer and more unsettling movie experiences of the past year.

The ten-minute short from Poland -- titled Porn -- included on the DVD from Film Movement is slight but worth seeing. I would encourage you to watch it before the main attraction, however. If you wait until after, you'll probably be too moved, involved and provoked by the feature to want to engage with anything else.