Philippe Aractingi
Sotto le bombe

LA RECENSIONE

Lebanon. One of many wars that have contributed to the destruction of a country.

Zeina, a woman newly separated, is searching for her sister and son, swallowed by the violent whirlwind of the conflict with Israel. All the taxi drivers, more survivors than available, decline any invitation to accompany her. At most, they go north, to Damascus, where there seems to be a momentary truce. A good package at an accessible price to earn both bread and gasoline, both essential for the life of a taxi driver in one of the most tormented countries by the opium of the people and more.

After many refusals and brief invitations to postpone suicidal attempts towards the disrespected "ceasefire" of southern Lebanon, Tony appears, a lively taxi driver with a family burden not exactly light on his shoulders. The old white 1975 Mercedes, model "enriched gypsy," sets off towards Kherbet Selem. It won't be easy, unfortunately. Not at all.

On the long and winding road, just to paraphrase a famous song, the protagonists' eyes must, like a conspiracy, meet with collapsed houses, obliterated villages, frozen gazes, and roads abruptly cut off by the terrible devices fallen from the Israeli iron clouds. As the kilometers pass, the relationship between the driver and the passenger, thanks to the fusion of dramatic familial experiences, warms and strengthens, dethroning an initial cynicism of the former and a understandable distrust of the latter. At times, they even manage to smile when Tony tries to break the ice, first by listing a series of anonymous local singers and then by playing an overly worn-out German lessons cassette on the car stereo. Or when he improvised a bizarre dance in a hotel lobby. But too soon, the smiles will drown in tears that can't be held back in the cursed interlude, not to mention the even worse ending.

Good work by French documentarian Philippe Aractingi, who directs a "reality-based instant-movie". Shot in a short time and with a budget not particularly exceptional, the director ventures, with undeniable courage, to the ongoing war locations, mixing reality with a skillful yet not incongruous fiction. The choice to use only two professional actors was spot on, the beautiful Nada Abou Farhat and the charming Georges Khabbaz, to turn what would have been another documentary into a film thanks to them. Sometimes the sharp technique of the latter is recognizable, as many scenes and dialogues were improvised with locals, using a handy shoulder camera, but fortunately, this does not harm the structure of the work.