tecnodata

A warning: the 10 stars is not for the actual merit but as an encouragement to watch it.

The movie is unduly long for what it has (or might want) to say, slow and at times frankly boring and it reaches its apparent intent of showing the disconcert of that Lebanese generation ( for which much worse was to come, unfortunately) by disconcerting the viewer.

The director had surely grown up on a heavy dose of French movies doubled down with Bergman and Antonioni's influence.

The long sequences of people sitting silent in cafès, staring at nothing might have endeared viewers as avant-garde at the time but are now frankly just boring.

Having said so it still is interesting as a time piece, notable also for the depiction of traditional if decaying old Lebanese mansions which in the intervening decades have probably been destroyed and rebuilt more than once.

I feel so sorry for that part of the world and those people so in the end, by watching this movie, I felt like sharing a bit in their misfortune.

Typical of the time but quite professionally made. Probably not for young viewers accustomed to fancier productions but interesting for old-timers. I happen to like those movies with a not too-complicated story which are able to make one follow it without falling asleep.

I can't understand the low rating.

It actually is a good movie, not a masterpiece for the ages (it should really be an 8, IMO but gave more hoping to rebalance the misguiding rating).

The movie is well made, the ambiance and time set are credible, the acting is more than decent (with some characters like the inspector/s, the lawyer, etc quite well cast) the plot a bit long winded but credible for the most part (in order to avoid spoilers I cannot tell which part seems less so).

To sum it up while I rarely watch a whole long movie in one sitting I went through this like a breeze and without a yawn. That's quite an accomplishment in my judgement and will look for other works by this director.