Capernaum, which roughly means chaos, is much more than a reductionist's vision of the vulnerability of children in a world of extreme poverty.
We have seen films about impoverished children right from Salaam Bombay to Slumdog Millionaire?to Liono?and a pack of Iranian films to boot. But this one, on the emotional quotient is very intense and almost unbearable to witness as it surpasses any other film seen earlier.
Narrated in a non-linear format and designed as a documentary, the director uses the courtroom trial as the framing device where a singularly focused, self-possessed Zain (Zain Al Rafeea), faces off for a crime he did and later sues his parents (Kawsar Al Haddad and Fadi Kamel Yousef) for neglect, abuse and for the crime of bringing him into this terrible world.
"I'm living in hell," that's how he describes his life to the judge.
Zain, a child close to adolescence,...
We have seen films about impoverished children right from Salaam Bombay to Slumdog Millionaire?to Liono?and a pack of Iranian films to boot. But this one, on the emotional quotient is very intense and almost unbearable to witness as it surpasses any other film seen earlier.
Narrated in a non-linear format and designed as a documentary, the director uses the courtroom trial as the framing device where a singularly focused, self-possessed Zain (Zain Al Rafeea), faces off for a crime he did and later sues his parents (Kawsar Al Haddad and Fadi Kamel Yousef) for neglect, abuse and for the crime of bringing him into this terrible world.
"I'm living in hell," that's how he describes his life to the judge.
Zain, a child close to adolescence,...
- 6/22/2019
- GlamSham
Chicago – One of the best films of 2018 is “Capernaum.” The title means “Chaos,” and co-writer/director Nadine Labaki certainly created a form of that action in the crazy quilt journey of the main character of Zain, an undocumented immigrant boy in Lebanon. From a story that takes us from his street survival to a court of law… suing his parents, “Capernaum” is a multi-layered masterpiece.
The film is framed by the trial. Zain, portrayed with amazing purpose by the similarly named Zain Al Rafeea, is a boy who felt that he shouldn’t have been born into his family of poor Syrian refugees in Lebanon, and sues his parents on that basis. His only respite in the family was with his beloved sister Sahar. When she was sold into marriage, Zain ran away, only to end up in the streets. An African woman with a baby took pity on him,...
The film is framed by the trial. Zain, portrayed with amazing purpose by the similarly named Zain Al Rafeea, is a boy who felt that he shouldn’t have been born into his family of poor Syrian refugees in Lebanon, and sues his parents on that basis. His only respite in the family was with his beloved sister Sahar. When she was sold into marriage, Zain ran away, only to end up in the streets. An African woman with a baby took pity on him,...
- 1/5/2019
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
For the first of two review round-ups to tackle this week, we’ve got a foreign film threesome to dive into! It’s also a bit of catching up, as two titles have opened already this past weekend. The trio here today happens to be the Lebanese outing Capernaum, the Polish film Cold War, and the Norwegian flick The Quake. These movies each offer something very different, though each do their jobs quite well. All three get the thumbs up from me today, to different degrees, but they’re each quality outings. Tomorrow will be a more mixed, if higher profile, bag, so stay tuned for that. For now though, we can dive into these three foreign titles… Here we go: — Capernaum To make an “issue film” is to proclaim that you have something to say. The danger here is that, sometimes, a movie can come off as preachy. Luckily,...
- 12/19/2018
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
Capernaum (Capharnaüm) director Nadine Labaki on Zain al Rafeea: "He knows the violence of the streets, he knows abuse, he knows mistreatment." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Nadine Labaki's Capernaum (Capharnaüm), Lebanon's Oscar entry and Cannes Film Festival winner of the Ecumenical and Jury Prize, and the Prix de la Citoyenneté, is executive produced by Susan Rockefeller and Joslyn Barnes (Lucrecia Martel's Zama), Joana Vicente and Jason Kliot, Candice Abela-Mikati (David Robert Mitchell's Under The Silver Lake), Danny Glover and others, with associate producer Anne-Dominique Toussaint.
Nadine Labaki on Yordanos Shifera as Rahil: "She had run away from her employer."
Capernaum, shot by Christopher Aoun, has a great performance from Zain al Rafeea with Yordanos Shiferaw, Boluwatife Treasure Bankole, Fadi Youssef, Kawthar al Haddad, Elias Khoury, Joseph Jimbazian, Haita 'Cedra' Izam, and Nadine Labaki as the lawyer for Zain.
Capernaum intercuts between Zain's (Zain al Rafeea) life on the streets and scenes in a courtroom,...
Nadine Labaki's Capernaum (Capharnaüm), Lebanon's Oscar entry and Cannes Film Festival winner of the Ecumenical and Jury Prize, and the Prix de la Citoyenneté, is executive produced by Susan Rockefeller and Joslyn Barnes (Lucrecia Martel's Zama), Joana Vicente and Jason Kliot, Candice Abela-Mikati (David Robert Mitchell's Under The Silver Lake), Danny Glover and others, with associate producer Anne-Dominique Toussaint.
Nadine Labaki on Yordanos Shifera as Rahil: "She had run away from her employer."
Capernaum, shot by Christopher Aoun, has a great performance from Zain al Rafeea with Yordanos Shiferaw, Boluwatife Treasure Bankole, Fadi Youssef, Kawthar al Haddad, Elias Khoury, Joseph Jimbazian, Haita 'Cedra' Izam, and Nadine Labaki as the lawyer for Zain.
Capernaum intercuts between Zain's (Zain al Rafeea) life on the streets and scenes in a courtroom,...
- 12/16/2018
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
In a year of exceptionally fine foreign-language films (Roma, Burning, Cold War, Shoplifters), Capernaum has a way to go to earn a spot in that major league. But the film has an undeniable emotional pull. Leabnese filmmaker Nadine Labaki takes to the slums of Beirut to follow the plight of Zain (Zain Al Rafeea), a 12-year-old boy doing five years in jail for stabbing a so-called “son of a bitch.” Zain has another agenda now: He wants to sue his parents for bringing him into the world in the first place.
- 12/13/2018
- by Peter Travers
- Rollingstone.com
Zain (Zain Al Rafeea) is an abrasive, unkempt boy of either 12 or 13 years old. Neither he nor his parents quite know his age for sure. His parents’ neglect is only part of the reason why Zain wants to sue them for bringing him into this world without a care. He hopes to stop them from having any more neglected children like himself or his beloved sister, Sahar (Cedra Izam), who they sold into an early marriage. Yet this is still only the beginning of Zain’s sad story.
Nadine Labaki’s “Capernaum” is a brutally honest — sometimes difficult to watch — drama about neglected children. Some, like Zain, are the innocent victims of a bad situation, joining a big family already burdened with an absurdly small income. Others are the victims of circumstance, like when a hardworking, caring Ethiopian migrant, Rahil (Yordanos Shiferaw), is arrested for her expired (and forged) paperwork.
Nadine Labaki’s “Capernaum” is a brutally honest — sometimes difficult to watch — drama about neglected children. Some, like Zain, are the innocent victims of a bad situation, joining a big family already burdened with an absurdly small income. Others are the victims of circumstance, like when a hardworking, caring Ethiopian migrant, Rahil (Yordanos Shiferaw), is arrested for her expired (and forged) paperwork.
- 12/13/2018
- by Monica Castillo
- The Wrap
Capernaum (Chaos) Sony Pictures Classics Reviewed for Shockya.com by: Harvey Karten Director: Nadine Labaki Screenwriter: Nadine Labaki, Jihad Hojeilly, Michelle Keserwany, in collaboration with Georges Khabbaz and with the participation of Khaled Mouzanar Cast: Zain Al Rafeea, Yordanos Shiferaw, Boluwatife Treasure Bankole, Kawthar Al Haddad Screened at: Sony, NYC, 11/28/18 Opens: December 14, 2018 Next […]
The post Capernaum Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Capernaum Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 11/30/2018
- by Harvey Karten
- ShockYa
Nadine Labaki was compelled to make “Capernaum” after witnessing “children on the streets, either children begging, or children working, or children who are deprived of their most basic rights. It’s something that lots of children around the world are struggling with right now, and I think I’m not the only one being moved by it. I just felt a need to express it.” Watch our exclusive video interview above.
See ‘Capernaum’ filmmakers tell Oscar voters in NYC about the plight of ‘kids on the street’ in Lebanon: ‘It’s real. It’s difficult’
This Sony Pictures Classics release centers on Zain (Zain Al Rafeea), a 12-year-old Lebanese boy living in extreme poverty with several siblings. When he runs away from home he’s taken in by an Ethiopian refugee (Yordanos Shiferaw) and is forced to care for her infant son (Boluwatife Treasure Bankole) after she’s detained. He...
See ‘Capernaum’ filmmakers tell Oscar voters in NYC about the plight of ‘kids on the street’ in Lebanon: ‘It’s real. It’s difficult’
This Sony Pictures Classics release centers on Zain (Zain Al Rafeea), a 12-year-old Lebanese boy living in extreme poverty with several siblings. When he runs away from home he’s taken in by an Ethiopian refugee (Yordanos Shiferaw) and is forced to care for her infant son (Boluwatife Treasure Bankole) after she’s detained. He...
- 11/21/2018
- by Zach Laws
- Gold Derby
Capernaum Trailer Nadine Labaki‘s Capernaum (2018) movie trailer stars Zain al Rafeea, Yordanos Shiferaw, Boluwatife Treasure Bankole, Kawsar Al Haddad, and Fadi Yousef. Capernaum‘s plot synopsis: “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 [...]
Continue reading: Capernaum (2018) U.S. Movie Trailer: Zain al Rafeea Sues His Parents to Stop Them From Having More Kids...
Continue reading: Capernaum (2018) U.S. Movie Trailer: Zain al Rafeea Sues His Parents to Stop Them From Having More Kids...
- 11/7/2018
- by Rollo Tomasi
- Film-Book
Audience reactions at the Cannes Film Festival aren’t always the best indicator of a film’s quality — many of the best films have inspired walk-outs — but a 15-minute standing ovation tends to bode pretty well. For “Capernaum,” Nadine Labaki’s Beirut-set drama which just released its first official trailer, that standing ovation catapulted the film to the top of the competition heap, eventually earning it the Jury Prize at the annual summer festival.
The film, according to the official synopsis, “tells the story of Zain (Zain al Rafeea), a Lebanese boy who sues his parents for the ‘crime’ of giving him life. A gutsy streetwise child as he flees his negligent parents, [Zain] survives through his wits on the streets, takes care of Ethiopian refugee Rahil (Yordanos Shiferaw) and her baby son, Yonas (Boluwatife Treasure Bankole), being jailed for a crime, and finally, seeks justice in a courtroom.”
Labaki used...
The film, according to the official synopsis, “tells the story of Zain (Zain al Rafeea), a Lebanese boy who sues his parents for the ‘crime’ of giving him life. A gutsy streetwise child as he flees his negligent parents, [Zain] survives through his wits on the streets, takes care of Ethiopian refugee Rahil (Yordanos Shiferaw) and her baby son, Yonas (Boluwatife Treasure Bankole), being jailed for a crime, and finally, seeks justice in a courtroom.”
Labaki used...
- 11/6/2018
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
The last festival on the fall calendar, AFI Fest, always offers a few late-breaking possible Oscar contenders — including opener “On the Basis of Sex” and closer “Mary, Queen of Scots” — as well as a strong World Cinema line-up packed with foreign-language Oscar submissions.
This year is no exception: Seven possible Best Foreign Language Film Oscar contenders are in the lineup of 28 titles from 27 countries, including Cannes prize-winners “Capernaum”, “Shoplifters” (Japan’s Hirokazu Kore-eda, Magnolia), and “Dogman” (Italy’s Matteo Garrone, Magnolia), along with Cannes entry “The Wild Pear Tree”, Karlovy Vary Festival winner “I Do Not Care If We Go Down In History as Barbarians” (Romania’s Radu Jude), and two Tiff titles from Spc, “Never Look Away” (Germany’s Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck) and “Sunset” (Hungary’s “Son of Saul” Oscar-winner László Nemes).
Also in the lineup are several strong festival titles not submitted by their countries for the Oscars,...
This year is no exception: Seven possible Best Foreign Language Film Oscar contenders are in the lineup of 28 titles from 27 countries, including Cannes prize-winners “Capernaum”, “Shoplifters” (Japan’s Hirokazu Kore-eda, Magnolia), and “Dogman” (Italy’s Matteo Garrone, Magnolia), along with Cannes entry “The Wild Pear Tree”, Karlovy Vary Festival winner “I Do Not Care If We Go Down In History as Barbarians” (Romania’s Radu Jude), and two Tiff titles from Spc, “Never Look Away” (Germany’s Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck) and “Sunset” (Hungary’s “Son of Saul” Oscar-winner László Nemes).
Also in the lineup are several strong festival titles not submitted by their countries for the Oscars,...
- 10/16/2018
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
The last festival on the fall calendar, AFI Fest, always offers a few late-breaking possible Oscar contenders — including opener “On the Basis of Sex” and closer “Mary, Queen of Scots” — as well as a strong World Cinema line-up packed with foreign-language Oscar submissions.
This year is no exception: Seven possible Best Foreign Language Film Oscar contenders are in the lineup of 28 titles from 27 countries, including Cannes prize-winners “Capernaum”, “Shoplifters” (Japan’s Hirokazu Kore-eda, Magnolia), and “Dogman” (Italy’s Matteo Garrone, Magnolia), along with Cannes entry “The Wild Pear Tree”, Karlovy Vary Festival winner “I Do Not Care If We Go Down In History as Barbarians” (Romania’s Radu Jude), and two Tiff titles from Spc, “Never Look Away” (Germany’s Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck) and “Sunset” (Hungary’s “Son of Saul” Oscar-winner László Nemes).
Also in the lineup are several strong festival titles not submitted by their countries for the Oscars,...
This year is no exception: Seven possible Best Foreign Language Film Oscar contenders are in the lineup of 28 titles from 27 countries, including Cannes prize-winners “Capernaum”, “Shoplifters” (Japan’s Hirokazu Kore-eda, Magnolia), and “Dogman” (Italy’s Matteo Garrone, Magnolia), along with Cannes entry “The Wild Pear Tree”, Karlovy Vary Festival winner “I Do Not Care If We Go Down In History as Barbarians” (Romania’s Radu Jude), and two Tiff titles from Spc, “Never Look Away” (Germany’s Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck) and “Sunset” (Hungary’s “Son of Saul” Oscar-winner László Nemes).
Also in the lineup are several strong festival titles not submitted by their countries for the Oscars,...
- 10/16/2018
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
AFI Fest’s World Cinema section unveiled Tuesday includes seven films that have been officially submitted for the Foreign Language Film Oscar, from Nadine Labaki’s Capernaum and Matteo Garrone’s Dogman to Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s Never Look Away and the Cannes Palme d’Or-winning Shoplifters by Hirokazu Kore-eda. Directors in the slate include Jafar Panahi, Jia Zhang-ke, Hong Sang-soo, Olivier Assayas, Carlos Reygadas, László Nemes and Nuri Bilge Ceylan.
The lineup includes 28 titles from 27 countries. The fest runs November 8-15 and opens with the Ruth Bader Ginsburg biopic On the Basis of Sex and closes with Josie Rourke’s Mary Queen of Scots. In the mix too are a host of gala presentations featuring Bird Box, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Widows, Green Book and Destroyer. The latter pic will be screened as part of a tribute to its star Nicole Kidman.
Here’s the full World...
The lineup includes 28 titles from 27 countries. The fest runs November 8-15 and opens with the Ruth Bader Ginsburg biopic On the Basis of Sex and closes with Josie Rourke’s Mary Queen of Scots. In the mix too are a host of gala presentations featuring Bird Box, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Widows, Green Book and Destroyer. The latter pic will be screened as part of a tribute to its star Nicole Kidman.
Here’s the full World...
- 10/16/2018
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
The synopsis doesn’t lie. Young Zain (Zain Al Rafeea) is in prison, his five-year sentence just put into effect. He has no papers despite being born in Lebanon and thus a doctor must estimate his age by his lack of baby teeth as twelve. Yet here he is anyway for a crime his mother dismisses “childish,” a label the judge scoffs at considering the length of his term. It’s no wonder then that Zain has called this latest trial to sue his parents for neglect. Worse than that, his reasoning turns more heartbreaking when he blames them for letting him be born. Born into a house smuggling drugs into that same jail for money. Born into a family with more kids then you can count. Born into a life that’s over as soon as it begins.
While this might be the premise behind Nadine Labaki’s Capernaum,...
While this might be the premise behind Nadine Labaki’s Capernaum,...
- 9/9/2018
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
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