Capernaum — Movie Review
Even the darkest night will have the brightest day. I am truly out of words to express the feelings I am going through after watching the movie.
I can very well understand why this film got 15 minutes-long standing ovation at the Cannes in 2018. It’s a film that will make you feel the pain of the crisis and the pathos of the characters. The soulful cry of the children will go deep down inside you and will remain there for some time. You will feel them and their presence, your eyes will get watery now and then. The impact is so large scale that you will remember such a movie for a very long time. You will understand how important the story and the characters are and how beautifully we can make them act.
Capernaum is a heart crunching drama of a kid named Zain who live in the slums of Beirut, he accuses his parents of given him birth and unable to take care of him. The story is a wonderful flashback into his life and his daily struggle.
Zain tries his best to save his younger sister from marriage at an early age of 11 but fails, he knows very well that his sister will go through hell if she gets married at such a young age. His anger takes him away from his home. Staying on the streets he comes across a lady who works at a restaurant but she also lives her life under the threats of arrest as she has no legal papers to stay in the country. The lady has a small son, but Zain starts taking care of her son in her absence in return for shelter and food. One day when the lady fails to return home after a phone call to her mother Zain and the small kid comes out on to the street for food. From here on the second half of the film is about his struggle for life with the small kid. Later when Zain returns home only to find that her sister is dead, he loses his temper and stabs the person to whom she was married. And now his fate will be decided in the court.
Everything about the film is exceptionally done. I was truly amazed to see the kind of performance the team has captured which is outstanding and remarkable. You will directly connect with the pathetic life of the characters. You will feel their hunger and satisfaction when they eat ice cubes with sugar as food. Every aspect of Zain is perfectly imperfect. The sound in the film is so well merged that you will never feel it’s going out of the story.
You need a strong heart to watch the rawness of the visual poverty through the eyes and character of Zain.
