De Volta

This is a much better film than I thought it would be, and I came in with high expectations. First of all: don't worry about an Irani playing an Arab, it works. It really works. Golshifteh Farahani is a stunning beauty and an even better actress, her performance in this film is one for the ages. This is a much more universal film than its simple setting in a Lebanese village. Complex and multi-layered; touching upon immigration, the inconsistencies of memory as well as the longer term effects of a civil war on all that came under its sway. It was nice to find out that my favorite moment in the film was the director's as well. I suspect that a number of friends who were also in attendance are wondering if we saw the same film, we likely didn't. Those who get the immense sadness of the title (which is absolutely brilliant, something I almost never say about a title), please find a way to see this film. There are heartbreaking and painful parts; but there is "that moment", one of those that make film my favorite art form.