Capernaum — A chaotic experience — Movie Review

Approximately 12 years old but lacking the papers to prove it, the protagonist Zain — named after and played by Zain Al Rafeea, whose own life was not so different from his character — looks so young but talks and acts like a man grown.

“I want to sue my parents.”
“Why do you want to sue your parents?”
“Because I was born.”

says the 12-year-old boy who stands trial. This gave mean idea of what to expect in the next two and a half hours. But I was wrong. What the film provided took me surprise to an unexpected space within the film’s world.

Capernaum, Nadine Labaki’s heartbreaking 2018 film borrows its name from an ancient city condemned to hell by Jesus Christ himself. The word has since become synonymous with Chaos, a mess so large it seems impossible to clean.

The first 10 odd minutes of the film are just irregular bits put together to give us an idea of the day to day life and routine of Zain and other refugee kids and how he longs for an escape from the hell’s pit that his life is. The second act of the film, where ‘Capernaum’ ensues, is lively yet frustrating as Zain goes through a series of hardships in the streets of Beirut.

As we drift towards the final act, much to our disappointment fails to justify the film enough. It feels as if it was blatantly inserted to give the film a dramatic effect and ultimately fails to match the quality and depth of filmmaking of what preceded it. We are left with unclear emotions about the actual argument the film was trying to make.

Some scenes in the film are so well written that they linger in our minds even after we are done with the film. One such scene is where Zain helps his sister Sahar to hide her first periods from her mother. “ If mom finds out, she’ll get rid of you, she’ll marry you to some pig” is subtle on the screen but speaks a lot about Zain, his parents, and more importantly, the state of the world.

Filmed with handheld cameras in the labyrinths of Beirut, this film is more than just realistic. It exposes the truth about the destruction and despair experienced by the refugees holding on to their lives with sunken nails. The transition from one phase to another is smooth and the director does a great job in keeping us engaged throughout the film.

Labaki had assembled a cast whose personal lives are similar to their character, to make their roles and the film as lively as possible. It is safe to say that she succeeds in it. Zain Al Rafeea deserves a special mention for his performance. Labaki could’ve used professional actors, but she found this 12-year-old refugee in the streets of Beirut and chose to do the film with him. Roping in Zain has made the film even more special. He has a certain charm and magnetism on screen, however unkempt and ragged he might be, you don’t just pity him or root for him, you believe him.

Capernaum talks about the life of people who are unnoticed throughout their lives, people born into a world of struggle only to live a life of more struggles. Most of them wish they were never born at all, but they were born and so was this film, and this one will not go unnoticed.