Where Do We Go Now? (2011)
Director: Nadine Labaki
Stars: Claude Baz Moussawbaa, Nadine Labaki, Yvonne Maalouf Runtime: 110 minutes
Synopsis: A group of Lebanese women try to ease religious tensions between Christians and Muslims in their village.
Performances: 5/10
Screenplay: 4/10
Editing: 6/10
Cinematography: 7/10
Score/Soundtrack: 6/10
Screenplay: 4/10
Editing: 6/10
Cinematography: 7/10
Score/Soundtrack: 6/10
Verdict: Nadine Labaki's "Capernaum" was deemed a masterpiece by many people, me included, and rightfully made its way to the Academy Awards, where I strongly believe that it had a chance of winning the award for Best Foreign Language film if "Roma" didn't compete against it. While this is the movie that made her name known to the entire world, she has been famous in Lebanon for a while now, and many still consider "Where Do We Go Now" to be her best work yet. And since it is available on Netflix, I finally decided to give it a shot.
And yes, there's definitely a lot to appreciate about it. The cinematography, score and production design are the main elements that overall did work pretty well. But other than that, I can't really say that I was wowed by what ultimately is a commentary on religious sectarianism in a small village in Lebanon. I found the theme tackled to be poorly introduced in a narrative that doesn't quite have an identity. It wants to be a drama, a comedy, and even sometimes a musical at the same time, and that blend resulted in an inconsistent tone that made these themes difficult to highlight. That is not to say that nothing about it from a storytelling point of view was effective, because some scenes did work prettt well, but others were just plain impossible to take seriously. The dynamic between the residents of that village also could've used some improvement in my eyes as some of the dialogue and confrontations between them did not feel natural at all.
"Capernaum" to me was a huge step up from "Where Do We Go Now" because it knew exactly what it wanted to be. I wouldn't call the latter a mess, but rather a missed opportunity. All the ingredients were there but unfortunately, they weren't utilized in the most effective of ways.
And yes, there's definitely a lot to appreciate about it. The cinematography, score and production design are the main elements that overall did work pretty well. But other than that, I can't really say that I was wowed by what ultimately is a commentary on religious sectarianism in a small village in Lebanon. I found the theme tackled to be poorly introduced in a narrative that doesn't quite have an identity. It wants to be a drama, a comedy, and even sometimes a musical at the same time, and that blend resulted in an inconsistent tone that made these themes difficult to highlight. That is not to say that nothing about it from a storytelling point of view was effective, because some scenes did work prettt well, but others were just plain impossible to take seriously. The dynamic between the residents of that village also could've used some improvement in my eyes as some of the dialogue and confrontations between them did not feel natural at all.
"Capernaum" to me was a huge step up from "Where Do We Go Now" because it knew exactly what it wanted to be. I wouldn't call the latter a mess, but rather a missed opportunity. All the ingredients were there but unfortunately, they weren't utilized in the most effective of ways.
FINAL GRADE: 5/10
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