REVIEW: ‘Capernaum’
Photo: Zain Al Rafeea stars in Capernaum, a new movie from director Nadine Labaki. Photo courtesy of Christopher Aoun and Sony Pictures Classics / Provided by Sony Pictures Classics press site with permission.
Capernaum is a modern masterpiece. Let’s get that fact out of the way from the start.
Nadine Labaki’s thoughtful, urgent and emotionally walloping movie follows a young boy named Zain (Zain Al Rafeea) as he navigates many challenges on the streets of Beirut. He flees from his home after his parents make a desperate and horrifying decision involving his beloved sister, Sahar (Haita ‘Cedra’ Izzam), and he becomes friends with an Ethiopian refugee named Rahil (Yordanos Shiferaw).
While Rahil works — always fearful she’ll be caught without a permit — Zain stays with her son, Yonas (Boluwatife Treasure Bankole), a baby who needs proper looking after. Zain may only be 12 years old, but he shows an uncommon maturity and humanity, refusing to let life’s challenges stop him or Yonas.
There is a deep sadness that permeates Capernaum, which is now playing an open-ended engagement at New York City’s Film Forum and theaters around the country. For starters, Zain needs to fend for himself in every way possible. He needs to find money for food and shelter; he needs to find Ranil after she never comes homes one day; he needs to carry Yonas around like the baby were his own child; he needs to separate himself from his parents (Kawsar Al Haddad and Fadi Yousef) because of the actions they take toward their children.
While enduring each of these responsibilities, he tries not to cry, and he tries to find small pockets of humor and rest. These brief respites are hard to come by because the poverty and circumstances around him are burdensome, even for a fully grown adult, let alone a 12-year-old boy.
Capernaum serves as a harsh look at reality in Beirut, and what is served up is never easy to view. Children face neglect and violence, and some of the adults are caught in a never-ending struggle to find proper documentation.
Bookmarking the film is Zain’s trial against his parents, an interesting development and narrative structure, for sure. A certain episode occurs in Zain’s life that causes him to appear before a judge, and the young boy decides to take the opportunity to sue his parents. Profoundly, he requests that the magistrate stop his parents from having any more children. This boy, wise beyond his years, believes no one else should grow up in such a home and perhaps such a world.
Al Rafeea’s performance is a marvel, realistic and believable. In fact, the performance is so grounded in everyday life that it appears much of the dialogue of the film is improvised, as if Labaki simply hit record and followed this young actor as he walked around neighborhoods of the city.
When Zain shows anger, which is his usual emotional starting point, he comes off as scary and older than he looks. He holds his own with drug users on the sidewalk, creepy men looking to make a deal and a convenience store owner who changes his life.
Zain is also completely capable of showing kindness, especially to Yonas. The 12-year-old becomes a father figure to this child, playing with him in a ragtag apartment while the baby’s mother works. He shows warmth and patience, qualities he reserves for the innocent and not the guilty.
Other times, Zain is a simple 12-year-old, getting into trouble and chasing his sister through the streets.
As his life becomes tougher and more complicated, Zain is increasingly pulled from his childish pursuits and made into an adult. He recognizes this truth, fights it, accepts it — and ultimately wants to change it for others.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Capernaum (2018), directed by Nadine Labaki, stars Zain Al Rafeea and Yordanos Shiferaw. Running time: 120 minutes. In Arabic and Amharic with English subtitles. Click here for more information. Rating: 
