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8.4/10
FilmFascination Rating
Following the death of their mother, Jeanne Marwan (Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin) and her twin brother Simon Marwan (Maxim Gaudette) are given two letters left by their mother. It is given to them by notary Jean Lebel who also had their mother employed for many years. One letter is to be given to their father who the twins thought was dead long ago and the other is to be given to a brother they never knew existed. Their mother, Nawal (Lubna Azabel), even denies giving herself a proper gravestone and a casket unless Jeanne and Simon track down their mysterious brother and their father and give them their respective letters. Simon is irritated by the requests and Jeanne is intrigued. I know, the plot itself is thrilling.
Yet the movie does start at a slow pace. I didn’t know what to expect of it. But still, you are trying to understand what exactly is happening. Mostly because the movie goes back and forth with the present pursuit of the twins to find the two interesting people and Nawal’s life before having children. But when it takes some pace, it pushes to the top gear. Then come horrible and difficult-to-watch scenes, and shocking revelations and the movie shows where it stands. The story reveals layer by layer.
Jeanne immediately goes to her mother’s village to find out more about her. It is not long before reluctant Simon is also dragged into all this by his sister. And it turns out that they had no clue about their mother and who she really was. Nawal, a Christian by religion had a relationship with a Muslim, which was not allowed in the village and was considered a shame that was brought upon them by her. Nawal grows from a passionate girl in a backward village to a college student amidst the Civil war, then a nonviolent activist for peace, a violent activist for peace, and then a prisoner. She is so ruthlessly tortured by her captors that she becomes known as ‘La Femme Qui Chante’, ‘the woman who sings’ through her pain to keep her sanity. Parts of the story were based on the life of Souha Bechara.
The deepest theme of the film is quite compelling — the idea that children have only the vaguest idea about their parents’ lives before they were born. We just imagine how it must have been but it requires a huge leap of imagination to understand what moulded them into whom they have become. Simon and Jeanne’s journey of finding their mother’s roots and her backstory make them understand the reason behind her behaviour.
There are some memorable scenes in the movie. Let’s not forget the very striking opening where young Arab boys are rounded up somewhere in the Middle East waiting for their turn for an extreme buzz cut when Radiohead’s “You and Whose Army” sinks in and the boy staring at us pulls us into the scene. Nawal’s past during the civil war also bring some arresting scenes from brutally killing all the people on a commuting bus and then burning it to an adolescent with a rifle, unaware of life itself, sniping other boys his age. These scenes are very well shot and set the war atmosphere. The war also succeeds in demonstrating how futile it is to hate others because of their religion. For many, religion is just forced upon them at birth. The chain of anger can only be broken by love.
One of the very pragmatic scenes is when Jeanne goes into a house for finding some hints about her mother’s past. The language being a barrier for her she does not understand what they are talking about but is still welcomed until she tells them her mother’s name. Her name brings forth arguments amongst them, the tone of their voice changes and all of a sudden Jeanne is no longer welcome there. It was scary. Mostly because of how well-acted it is. Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin (Jeanne Marwan) has given a good performance in it. The capture of the shots gives you the chills of going to an unknown place where nothing much is in your control.
The movie is adapted from Wajdi Mouawad’s play of the same name which consists of poetic monologues. Denis Villeneuve adapted it after seeing it performed in Montreal in 2004. The film also got nominated for the 2011 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
One of the impressive things is Denis Villeneuve’s writing and direction. It is effective in making things very clear which might have kept our thoughts hanging onto them. Also, the enigmatic dialogue in which he reveals the film’s shocking truth was for me impeccable. Obviously, you won’t hear the revelation from me, but in terms of logic, I am not sure it quite works. But perhaps logic can be forgotten for the film to be impactful.
Favourite Quotes
Notary Jean Lebel: Death is never the end of the story. It always leaves tracks.
Nawal Marwan: Nothing is more beautiful than being together.
Rafqa: Ideas only survive if someone is there to defend them!
Nawal Marwan: You need to know. Otherwise, your mind will never be at peace.
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