Asian Cinema Challenge 2023 | 32/52 | Made in Lebanon
Roukoz and his cousin Nassim travel back and forth across a small land bridge to bring in supplies to the village. Among the supplies is a satellite dish, which the boys use with a boom box to find a TV signal. At sundown, the town sets out together on a long trek to the place where the boys found reception. Chairs are arranged in front of a TV, and a goat rotates on the spit. The mayor delivers a speech on the village’s peaceful coexistence between Christians and Muslims. Turning on the TV, they see a murky image of a scantily clad weatherwoman, which excites the men in the town.
The radio plays at Amale’s cafe. A news story about a bloody conflict between Christians and Muslims causes the women to stir. Amale shuts off the radio before any of the men notice. That night at the TV gathering, they passed a TV station with news. The women try to rush past it, but the men insist on watching it. One woman yells out at her son, signaling to other women to bicker with their husbands and children to drown out the sound. That night, the women sneak up the mountain to sabotage the TV. They burn the newspapers, which also cover the conflict.
Roukoz tries to fix the church speakers. While checking the wire, he slips on the ladder, lands on the cross, and accidentally breaks it in half. At Sunday mass, the village priest assures everyone that he accidentally left the window open and the wind blew the cross over. It definitely wasn’t the Muslims. Later, the imam discovers some goats have made their way into the mosque. Though he tries to assure them that the Christians had nothing to do with it, a Muslim man does, in fact, blame the Christians, and a small fight ensues.
The film follows the village as the women do everything they can to restore peace.
Despite the heaviness of the setting and subject matter, the film has a comedic tone. The women’s plans to restore peace reach absurd levels — for example, the mayor’s wife, Yvonne, pretends to receive a message from the Virgin Mary. She slips in a declaration that a particular neighbor is an asshole, threatening to derail the whole effort. Looking for a message, the pinball machine with the scantily clad woman lights up, so they decide to bring in Ukrainian dancers to entertain the men. And so on.
— What if she's a Satanist?
— That's okay. It'll take the devil to calm these men down.
As things escalate, the humor diminishes but never disappears. The movie never pretends that lives are not at stake, and gives appropriate levity to the moments that require it. The film opens with a funeral parade, the women mourning those they have lost to the conflict, sons and husbands. And yet, they approach in rhythmic dance. Even in our darkest hours, we must find a way to laugh and to live.
You think we're just here to mourn you? To wear black forever? Have a little pity!
What I find most frustrating about the movie is that someone is clearly instigating things between the groups. While the broken cross is clearly an accident, we also see stolen shoes, baptismal water replaced with chicken blood, and other signs of tampering. And yet, the movie will not point to any one person. Because perhaps there isn’t one person. But it is crucial that what instigates the fighting is never as severe as the fighting itself.
The film is divisive for one reason: it proposes that the conflict in the Middle East would not exist if women were in power. Or rather, that’s what the white men who didn’t like this movie claimed it was about. After all, how dare this Lebanese woman make a movie about religious coexistence??? Let’s forget about the moments in the film where the women fight among themselves. And let’s forget that the conflict arises despite the women’s best efforts. Perhaps the message isn’t “Women will save the world,” but rather, “We must overcome our small differences and join together in what unites us if we are to see change in the world.”
What can I say? I laughed, I teared up, I enjoyed it throughout. It’s not perfect, but its successes outweigh its flaws.
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torrentasiancinemachallenge2023asiancc2023asiancc2023week32directed-by-womenwritten-by-womensolidarity