Liz and I both found fascinating this story of a street smart 12-ish boy in Lebanon, raised in crime, yet with a strong moral code and survival instinct for himself and his siblings. The movie opens with him in court, suing his parents for having him and "too many" other children, but that's not really what it's about. Its overriding theme is that everyone needs "papers," i.e. documentation, no matter where they live, and kids have to grow up fast. The title translates to Chaos.
Nominated for the foreign film Oscar, Golden Globe, and Critics Choice Awards, among others, the movie also won three at Cannes and had one more nomination.
The movie proudly uses non-professional actors, headed up by young Zain Al Rafeea as Zain, Yordanos Shiferaw as Ethiopian refugee Rahil, and Boluwatife Treasure Bankole (a girl) as Rahil's son Yonas, a beautiful and mostly placid toddler. In fact all three are easy on the eyes. Here's a spoiler-free article about the casting and more.
This is the fourth feature for director/co-writer Nadine Labaki, working on this script with co-writers Jihad Hojeily (he co-wrote three of Labaki's previous projects) and Michelle Keserwany in her first outing. Screenplay "collaborators" are Georges Khabbaz (wrote two others, not Labaki's) and Khaled (or K.) Mouzanar, Nadaki's husband, who composed the music and is one of the producers.
While watching I wondered if the cinematographer was nominated for the wonderful images. Yes, Christopher Aoun is, but not any of the awards I track on this page of the blog.
As I write, I'm streaming Mouzanar's soundtrack (he composed one of her others) on Apple Music. It's also available on Spotify and likely other sites.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics are currently at 86 and its audiences at 77. I recommend this wholeheartedly.
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