El-Aasar

A young Lebanese studying art in Russia comes back to Lebanon to visit his family. Arriving in Beirut during a civil war, he gets swallowed by the surrounding violence and is finally caught in a virtual no man's land of unspeakable and gratuitous violence.

The story develops slowly and is heavily padded by vignettes of life in Beirut. The first half thus feels episodic, a mixed salad of isolated events that creates a context for what existence in a conflict area can be. The urban destruction shown is all too real.

The director is fond of shots of clouds and sunsets. His plot-as-dream trickery is overused. The music can be overwhelming and excessively melodramatic during action scenes. Near the end the film gets carried away by its allegorical references.

The best part of the film is the final scene. Good enough to slog through this strenuous concoction.