West Beirut

West Beyrouth (À l'abri les enfants)

Belgium, Lebanon, Norway, France

1998

105 Min

Color

2.35:1

French, Arabic

Currently 4.0/5 Stars.
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PROD Rachid Bouchareb, Jean Bréhat

CAST Rami Doueiri, Naamar Sahli, Mohammad Chamas

Synopsis

In April, 1975, civil war breaks out; Beirut is partitioned along a Moslem-Christian line. Tarek is in high school, making Super 8 movies with his friend, Omar. At first the war is a lark: school has closed, the violence is fascinating, getting from West to East is a game. His mother wants to leave; his father refuses. Tarek spends time with May, a Christian, orphaned and living in his building. By accident, Tarek goes to an infamous brothel in the war-torn Olive Quarter, meeting its legendary madam, Oum Walid. He then takes Omar and May there using her underwear as a white flag for safe passage. Family tensions rise. As he comes of age, the war moves inexorably from adventure to tragedy. —IMDb

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Zachary George Najarian-Najafi

16Apr13

An achingly lovely and romantic movie. This is one of my new favorite coming-of-age tales. This recalls the best of Truffaut and Malle, but it's also it's own sublime creation. There are such scenes of life, love, and joy that you just want to climb inside the movie and live in it. But before you get too comfy, you're reminded that there's a war going on. Rapturous. That's the best way I can put it.