Capernaum
The last shot had me choking back sobs.
Capernaum
INT. COURTROOM
ZAIN, a 12-year-old boy, faces THE JUDGE.
THE JUDGE: Why are you suing your own parents?
ZAIN: For giving me life.
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, Nadine Labaki's CAPERNAUM ("Chaos") tells the story of Zain (Zain al Rafeea), a Lebanese boy who sues his parents for the "crime" of giving him life. CAPERNAUM follows Zain, a gutsy streetwise child as he flees his negligent parents, survives through his wits on the streets, takes care of Ethiopian refugee Rahil (Yordanos Shiferaw) and her baby son, Yonas (Boluwatife Treasure Bankole), is jailed for a crime, and, finally, seeks justice in a courtroom. CAPERNAUM was made with a cast of non-professionals playing characters whose lives closely parallel their own. Following her script, Labaki placed her performers in scenes and asked them to react spontaneously with their own words and gestures. When the non-actors's instincts diverged from the written script, Labaki adapted the screenplay to follow them. While steeped in the quiet routines of ordinary people, CAPERNAUM is a film with an expansive palette: without warning it can ignite with emotional intensity, surprise with unexpected tenderness, and inspire with flashes of poetic imagery. Although it is set in the depths of a society's systematic inhumanity, CAPERNAUM is ultimately a hopeful film that stirs the heart as deeply as it cries out for action.
ZAIN, a 12-year-old boy, faces THE JUDGE.
THE JUDGE: Why are you suing your own parents?
ZAIN: For giving me life.
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, Nadine Labaki's CAPERNAUM ("Chaos") tells the story of Zain (Zain al Rafeea), a Lebanese boy who sues his parents for the "crime" of giving him life. CAPERNAUM follows Zain, a gutsy streetwise child as he flees his negligent parents, survives through his wits on the streets, takes care of Ethiopian refugee Rahil (Yordanos Shiferaw) and her baby son, Yonas (Boluwatife Treasure Bankole), is jailed for a crime, and, finally, seeks justice in a courtroom. CAPERNAUM was made with a cast of non-professionals playing characters whose lives closely parallel their own. Following her script, Labaki placed her performers in scenes and asked them to react spontaneously with their own words and gestures. When the non-actors's instincts diverged from the written script, Labaki adapted the screenplay to follow them. While steeped in the quiet routines of ordinary people, CAPERNAUM is a film with an expansive palette: without warning it can ignite with emotional intensity, surprise with unexpected tenderness, and inspire with flashes of poetic imagery. Although it is set in the depths of a society's systematic inhumanity, CAPERNAUM is ultimately a hopeful film that stirs the heart as deeply as it cries out for action.
Genre
Drama,
Festival Favorite,
Women and Film
Runtime
123
Language
Arabic,
Amharic
Director
Nadine Labaki
Writer(s)
Nadine Labaki,
Jihad Hojeily,
Michelle Kesrouani
Cast
Zain Al Rafeea,
Yordanos Shiferaw,
Boluwatife Treasure Bankole
Awards:
Winner, Jury Prize, Cannes Film Festival
Winner, Prize of the Ecumenical Jury ~ Special Mention, Cannes Film Festival
Nominee, Palme d’Or, Cannes Film Festival
Nominee, Best Foreign Language Film, Golden Globes
Nominee, Best Foreign Language Film, Academy Awards
MOREFEATURED REVIEW
Richard Brody, New Yorker
Nadine Labaki’s anguished tale of poverty and depravity, despair and survival in the slums of Beirut stars an extraordinary young actor, Zain Al Rafeea, as a boy named Zain, who’s about twelve years old. Unregistered at birth by his parents, who never let him attend school and have forced him to ...
Played at
Royal 12.14.18 - 1.17.19
Playhouse 7 12.21.18 - 1.10.19
Town Center 5 12.21.18 - 1.10.19
Glendale 1.11.19 - 1.17.19
Lumiere Music Hall 1.18.19 - 3.06.19
Monica Film Center 1.18.19 - 2.14.19
Claremont 5 2.01.19 - 2.12.19
NoHo 7 2.15.19 - 2.21.19
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