Solitaire

I watched Mahbas/solitaire, I did laugh, but I am totally ambivalent about the movie... For a Lebanized version of "guess who's coming to dinner", I was expecting more... I mean when you copy a plot, you should have enough time to care for the details... It was said that the movie tries to heal through art that conflict/racism between Lebanese and Syrians, while all it did, was use that Lebanese/Syrian conflict to create a shallow chansonnier-like comedy... It laid cliché jokes from both sides, that reached nowhere... That movie mocked the Lebanese/Syrian conflict, But decided to solve the conflict with a fictitious invisible magical wand instead of trying to find a more realistic way... Some scars need to be bled again to heal... This conflict is one of them, arguments and counter arguments, screams and even fights, real ones needed to happen, to find a way out of this... Not just a kiss and hug without mentioning anything!

One has to give credit to two actors: Julia Kassar and Bassam Koussa... These two seemed like the only credible characters in the movie, and the only ones who did a great job... Kassar's was able to convey all the emotions she felt with a simple facial expression, and Koussa was able to give that comedic atmosphere without turning himself into a hysteric clown... Other than the two mentioned actors, the rest of the actors were either too over-acting with annoying big hand gestures or neophytes trying their best to recite their lines in a school play while praying the teacher doesn't ask them to do something out of the ordinary... The Scenario was seriously naive at times, especially when the lovers are talking to each other...

You'd laugh while watching it, but I'm not sure you'd remember it once the credits start rolling, and I certainly don't think it'll offer anything but a good laugh because of the clichés Lebanese Syrian fights, no healing, no dealing no nothing...

So, how can you tackle an issue as sensitive as deeply-rooted, conflict-induced bigotry racism while at the same time introducing a heart-warming work of art with love at its core? I don't know if director Sohpie Butrus had that in mind while making this movie, but whatever she was thinking, she surely translated right on the screen. In just 90 minutes, the movie tells you several stories each with its own significance, tackling themes of loss, prejudice, love and reconciliation. But the keyword here is "story", after all this is what life is about, the everyday stories of ordinary people, those affected by the big events but who are not accounted for in news broadcasts and history books. I didn't go into that movie theater expecting a solution for the Lebanese-Syrian conflict, for art's job is not to give solutions, but to put the problem out there and create a conversation about it.

I truly enjoyed watching Solitaire, it was funny and touching in its own way. The actors and actresses owned their roles, and it was very visually pleasing with the excellent cinematography and beautiful scenery from the Lebanese countryside.

If you're looking for something that's moving without being depressing, and entertaining without being shallow, then I would recommend you give Solitaire a shot, it will be worth your time.

Not worth watching nothing but racism. since when racism is funny!!? I Would like to remind people of the Lebanese Civil War and after that South Lebanon conflict 1975-2000 and how they went to Syria as refugees.