“In the near future”
What do you do when your homeland is becoming a corrupted, uncivilized and overwhelmingly polluted wasteland. Well, writer and debut director Mounia Akl takes us to that very place, a city with roads covered in garbage and protests of people yelling obscenities at their corrupted government. The families of Lebanon are in dire need of change, but the beginning of Costa Brava, Lebanon, reminds us as history constantly repeats itself, things can only get worse from here on out.
Akl’s film isn’t just a political movie per se, it’s an environmental crisis film; it’s a film about family drama, a family that, one time ago, wanted nothing to do with this country’s failings. A family that once tried to help shape their country with things that gives us hope, like art, music – the very things that empowers us to push forward and encourage that change, but unfortunately this didn’t happen to this family. The lack of enthusiasm, the lack of passion to try and change their world, they attempted to escape it all, and as the film continues it only gets worse.
This tells the story of a family of five. A husband and wife, two children and the husband’s mother. They moved to a farm years ago, and we eventually learn that Walid (Saley Bakri) and Souraya (Nadine Labaki) live next to a valley which contains what is possibly the last piece of property that remains green in Lebanon. All other land in Lebanon has become a landfill. The opening shot of the film shows some news reports and reveals a country in deep despair, and even with all the land it makes it very insufficient for the population as the government continues to do the very thing no one wants.
Walid and Souraya have two daughters; 17 year old Tala (Nadia Charbel) and the young kid Rim (Geana Restom). The younger daughter is a bit of an eccentric young gal, this is probably due to having her head filled with scary stories about the world in which they live by her father. You can’t help being charmed by her. She lights up the screen with enthusiasm and even when she is being very impish she’s charming. Meanwhile, Tala is at that age of exploration, looking out beyond at what a future might be away from home, a young girl who is discovering her sexuality while also being pulled into womanhood. Charbel delivers a very understated performance that makes her character both believable and relatable.
They really have no connection to what lies beyond their doors; they have no internet, and that’s really because Walid decides to have no access to the internet in their home. This specifically bothers his mother Zeina (Lilane Chacar Knoury), who is sick and is on an oxygen machine due to decades of smoking. She wants to spend the last days of her life traveling, even if it’s imaginative through photographs via a cell phone, which she can’t seem to do now.
There is a real somber quality to Akl and Roquet’s screenplay, from the mishandling of a corrupted government, to a sense of looking for an easy way out and dealing with the current problems going on, not to mention Walid’s attitude towards his own family’s life. And things aren’t looking up for the family when Walid’s sister Alia (Yumna Marwan), who now resides in Colombia and owns the farm, sells the land surrounding their house to the government. The last piece of what is supposedly the last green spot in the country and they intend to use it as another landfill to solve its garbage crisis in Beirut. Tarek (François Nour), an environmental engineer claims its all in good intentions on behalf of the government. However, this is politics, and if history tells us anything we can almost certainly say it will not go well.
Almost the entire film, besides the opening scene and another I won’t get into, takes place on the farm. During this time you gain a level of affinity for this family’s dynamics and begin to feel that what was once their home is now like a prison for them, trapped behind a pile of garbage as the government has broken its promise of a “green” garbage facility. As time goes by, more and more workers and machinery show up and piles of trash start going beyond their property line. Walid continues to refuse to have a discussion about another life, and this only turns him very angry and controlling.
Bakri’s performance hits all the right notes perfectly. Walid has characteristics of both a hero and villain. It is not hard to see that his wife loves him, but you also get the sense that she’s being restrained by him. The relationship Walid has with his younger daughter is very delightful and it reminds the audience of the good guy he is. But that being said, Walid’s refusal to entertain any other ideas that could help the family other than his own is overwhelmingly frustrating at times. However, even with his own faults and as anxious as he is, his love for his family is never ending. Labaki’s performance is all restraint and confinement, but she feels real and not overly dramatized, which is very impactful. You perceive a sense of regret for her living in what seems to now be hell for her family. You feel all of her emotions as she wonder what her life would have been like if she could have her past again, or if she never left for that matter.
Some of this felt a bit unneeded, such as Rim oddly counting all the time and Tala’s sexual awakening with the government boy, Tarek. All that being said, what Akl crafted with this family, these characters, and what seems to be a confined situation, the film knows how to present itself and bring everything it’s trying to convey to the surface. Then, obviously you have the political and environmental aspects of the film, but neither of these issues need to be clarified any other way in the film as they are so to-the-point. Costa Brava, Lebanon is an influential, heartfelt journey into what was a growing nightmare of the devastating effects it had on its land and family.
Costa Brava, Lebanon is currently playing in select theaters courtesy of Kino Lorber. The film will be available digitally on Kino Now beginning August 16. The film will be available on Blu-Ray on September 13, 2022.
Costa Brava, Lebanon is an influential, heartfelt journey into what was a growing nightmare of the devastating effects it had on its land and family
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GVN Rating 9
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User Ratings (1 Votes)
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It all started when I was a kid watching Saturday morning cartoons like the Spider-Man: Animated Series and Batman. Since then I’ve been hooked to the world of pop culture. Huge movie lover from French New Wave, to the latest blockbusters, I love them all. Huge Star Wars and Marvel geek. When I’m free from typing away at my computer, you can usually catch me watching a good flick or reading the next best comic. Come geek out with me on Twitter @somedudecody.