L-Drama: LAILA’S BIRTHDAY (2008)

4 juill.

The drama that starts with an L is LAILA'S BIRTHDAY (2008) by Rashid Masharawi

This could've been a comedy if I hadn't been on edge the entire time, if someone had told me "don't worry, only one person dies and you never see them". But that death is ridiculous: a missile falls from the sky. A senseless, random death.

There is no way not to be on edge. Everyone is on edge, even the donkey. Everything is so absurd when your people is not free. You pick up the phone and say: "Yeah I'm under a table, I'll call you back later" in the middle of a shelling.

I need to watch this film again.

Favorite quotes:

How could you forget? It’s right there in the title!

“Listen: interior problems, exterior problems, problems because of the occupation…

At 8 o’clock, it’s Laila’s birthday, OK?” Um Laila (played by Areen Omari)

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Shout out to Hossine Nakhla who plays the donkey’s owner. All the actors in this movie are sensational. It almost feels like a documentary! The lead actor Mohammad Bakri reminds me so much of the late French actor Jean-Pierre Bacri. Apparently, Mohammad Bakri passed away too, last December 24. He was only 72. And just shout out to Rashid Masharawi because this is a masterclass in screenwriting and directing. So much is conveyed through Abu Laila's silent reactions. A truly powerful film.