Customer Reviews

Under The Bombs

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Like Haskell Wexler filming "Medium Cool" during events on the streets of Chicago in 1968, French-Lebanese director Philippe Aractingi takes his cameras into war-torn South Lebanon, following two fictional characters in a very real world of bombed-out devastation. The result is a shocking and compelling docudrama, where nonprofessional supporting actors play themselves in the tenuous aftermath of 33 straight days of bombing and shelling. Never amateurish or clumsy, the film assumes the structure of a road movie, in which a taxi driver agrees to drive a distraught mother from Beirut to the village where her son has been living with her sister.

Leveled buildings line the roads, and shattered bridges prevent their progress. Suspense builds as a bond between the two characters grows, made especially poignant by the fact that one is Christian and the other Muslim. This film held me all the way to its galvanizing end. The performances of Nada Abou Farhat, as the woman, and Georges Khabbaz as the taxi driver are wonderful. One of the finest, most believable anti-war movies you're ever likely to see.

This is a movie that had to be done. Under the Bombs is unique. It can not be described as fiction because the background for the central plot is the cruel reality of another senseless war. It is not a documentary because two professional actors give a human face to the detached portrayal of war that we so frequently see in the news. Both Nada Abou Farhat as well as George Khabbaz provide an authentic performance of the two central characters in the movie. The story revolves around Zeina, a mother searching for her missing sister and son, and Toni, a taxi driver trying to make ends meet in the simultaneously war ravaged and beautiful country of Lebanon. The realism is complete. The burials, the cries, the anger, the explosions, the ruined houses, and the destroyed bridges are all real. The filming was done under unique duress and dangerous circumstances. There is no cosmetic effort to moderate the ugliness of the senseless destruction of civilian property and lives or attempts to exaggerate or otherwise distort the events occurring in real time. The only thing that one can not feel watching this film is the stench of death. What should not be expected from this movie are the glorification of war, the gore, and the sensationalism of combat that is almost invariably the norm prevailing in Hollywood. This movie does not lecture the audience. It does not trivialize pain or take sides with any political point-of-view. It shows war for what it is: a total defeat of the human spirit. Sadly, the plot of this movie is a mirror of what has been happening in too many parts in the world. Financial and economic devastation of the Western economies, millions of dead or displaced civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Palestine, Somalia, Sudan, Lebanon, Israel, the USA (remember 9/11) and a myriad of less known places are a testament to humanity's inability to overcome its greed and addiction to war. A movie like this should be shown in every school around the world. Maybe the truthful scenes shown in 'Under the Bombs" could counterbalance the culture of death propagated by the militaristic and ultra-nationalistic establishments of so many countries in this little planet. I clearly remember diplomats and politicians in the awful summer of 2006 demanding a delay in the cease-fire so that a military "solution" could be reached. I hope (against all probability) that they will watch this movie. In one scene Zeina cries out: "haidi mish harbi", this is not my war. Maybe Zeina is wrong. The Israeli-Lebanese war of 2006, like all wars, is everybody's war.

A mother's search for her son in the immediate aftermath of Israel's 2006 bombing of Lebanon provides a vehicle for the viewer to see the destruction and hear from the victims firsthand. For some reason I had expected a somewhat detached semi-documentary, but instead this film drags you into the horrors of a senseless war in the desperate efforts to locate the missing son and sister. It is compelling, haunting, and especially relevant now that Israel is doing the exact same thing in Gaza.
Doubtlessly speaking for many of those caught in the crossfires, the lead actor laments, "This is not MY war," as she seeks to understand the tragedy all around her.

This movie was wonderful. First, let me say, this movie grabs you in just the very first few minutes and keeps you there throughout the entire movie.

My husband is Lebanese, from Saida/Sidon, which is mentioned in the movie. He still has family living in Beirut and elsewhere in the country, so we knew of what took place during the bombings, kept track of the family and what was happening during this time on TV and the net. BUT, to see what the film maker was able to get on film was amazing, though I'm sure hard for my husband to watch.

We showed the movie to other family members and they too thought it was a wonderful movie. Not only is the movie wonderful, the two main actors are fantastic.

I HIGHLY recommend this movie, you won't be disappointed!

In the summer of 2006 Israel bombed southern Lebanon for 33 straight days, after which a cease fire was declared. 1189 people died and perhaps a million were made refugees. This film was shot on location after the cease-fire, and uses only two professional actors. Tony is a Christian taxi driver who takes Zeina, a Shiite who had been residing in Dubai, to find her son and sister. They search refugee centers, schools and convents, and end their improbable journey in a monastery where only the inanities of war could explain the bizarre conclusion. The film effectively takes you to the center of the war zone--bull dozers excavating mass graves, thumping helicopters deploying UN troops, bombed out roads and bridges, and the rubble and ruin of people's lives. "Yes, the hatred keeps growing," says one young Lebanese mother, as she stands in front of a shell of a building that used to be her apartment. In Arabic with English subtitles.

What a great movie! This is a unique cinematic creation in that it is shot on the site in Lebanon immediately following the cease fire at the end of the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah. There are no props, it's all real stuff. There are only two professional actors in the movie, the rest are real folks, real ruins of war, real bombings and real suffering...

The film follows a story of a Shiite Muslim woman, Zeina, who lives abroad. She and her unfaithful husband are estranged and while working out their marital problems they sent their only child to live back in southern Lebanon with Zeina's sister. Then the war started and the south was heavily bombed during the conflict. Some actual footage of the bombing is shown as caught with amateur camera. Pretty devastating. So Zeina returns from abroad via Turkey to Beirut and tried to find way to the south. No one is willing to take her to the war zone despite the cease fire, except for a Christian taxi driver Toni. They travel together taking detours around bombed bridges and blown up roads looking for Zeina's son. They find her sister's house leveled to the ground and learn that she'd been killed in the collapse of the building. They have some hope that the boy escaped unharmed and so they keep on driving and searching.

In the process of their searching, they come to confront their own past, their own demons and their own insecurities. Amid all the depression and devastation they come to realize that they love southern Lebanon, the place of their upbringing and yearn and resolve to re-build it. This is very symbolic as true re-building of Lebanon can truly be accomplished only as both the Christians and Muslims work hand in hand regardless of their religion. The pain and suffering can indeed be overcome. The climax is just beautiful and I wholeheartedly recommend this movie.

Powerful, important, human film, about the aftermath of the destruction of Southern Lebanon
under Israeli bombing.

The basic set up and story are a bit familiar - a woman hires a reluctant cab driver to take her
into the dangerous, ravaged south to try and find her sister and her son, and gradually they bond.

But the acting, emotional power, plot twists, and images of devastation raise it above
cliché into a strong document on human suffering.

This film opened a door -- finally -- to Southern Lebanon for me, post-latest Israeli invasion.
My excellent coverage of this harrowing event came from ground-zero, but only via audio (KPFA radio).
One sees the physical and family carnage brought home, what it means to be suddenly sundered from Home, loved ones, and often instantly orphaned -- through no fault of your own.
My only other reference to this mournful, exquisite space is poetry by Mahmoud Darwish (such as "Why Did You Leave the Horse Alone?")
Universal material handled artfully.

With only two professional (lead) actors, the movie is very realistic in its depiction of war-torn Lebanon and one mother's struggle through the difficulties of war to find her son. She find a taxi driver to take her from Beirut to the South of Lebanon in the midst of war and they develop a strong bond while fighting their way through.

With some chilling images of the affects of war and great performances, this movie is a lesson in perseverance and is very moving.

Sous Les Bombes (Under The Bombs) 2007, Arabic, is not about terrorism. Neither is it about religion, or extremism.

It is a story about a mother and a son separated by unfortunate bombings of a conflicted region in Lebanon.

It starts with Zeina rushing to Lebanon where she finds fear, apprehension, military, international media, destruction, distraught families. And then she finds Tony: a brave Christian cab driver. Both start on a dangerous journey to the disputed region, with their own motives (alert: Tony's motives do not see light until the very end).

What followed was beyond my predictions, and was subtle yet gripping. I forgot that I was watching a movie and not a well crafted documentary (I still believe some of the characters were actual victims of the war... I cannot fathom stage actors bringing the creepy calm that you see on their faces in some of the frames).

Tony, who starts with a greed to squeeze most of Zeina's money owing to her desperation, unravels his true self just when she needs it the most (I will keep the details for you to enjoy).

The frames are stitched together with eerie monologues, empathetic dialogues, poor yet helping hands, a failing state, and a dry yet gorgeous scenery of rural Lebanon.

In the end, sacrificing in their own ways, they do get within hand's reach of Karim, Zeina's lost son.

But are they able to get to him? And what happens to their life thereafter? Does Zeina leave her uninterested business-man husband for a stranger she just met, because he provided more for her in 3 days than her partner of 20 years?

Watch it now to know more. I guarantee a wash out of all your strong prejudices against the Arabic people. You will find that common people nowhere want to bear wars, and the losses that fall out. You will realize that underneath that stereotyped Middle-Eastern face of Tony lies a young and soft heart who enjoys music, food, dreams and a struggle to get to them.

I rate it 4.7/5.0.

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