Labaki’s masterpiece ‘Capernaum’ won a universal appreciation after earning a 15-minutes standing ovation at Cannes Film Festival.
It’s the first Lebanese film nominated for the Golden Globes’ Best Picture – Foreign Language, and the second Lebanese movie to ever be shortlisted for an Academy Award.
‘Capernaum’ tells the story of Zain (Zain Al Rafeea), a Lebanese boy who sues his parents Souad (Kawsar Al Haddad) and Selim (Fadi Yousef) for the “crime” of giving him life.
After entering prison for the crime of stabbing, Zain decides to rise up against his parents who don’t even know his actual birthdate.
The boy is paperless, meaning he has no identification card, cannot attend school or get medical assistance. He is considered of no value in the legal system of this cruel world.
The movie follows the young boy in his journey, surviving through his wits on the streets, and fleeing his parent’s negligence.
What is really impressive in the movie is the fact that Labaki did not choose professional actors to play the roles. The chosen actors are people who are living the same troubles, same difficulties and same misery as the characters.
This transparency and authenticity in the acting is obvious and makes you sympathize with the characters as if they are not really acting but they’re rather given the chance to express their pain in a movie on the big screen.
These 2 are so compelling on screen and worthy of your time. Story of a young boy who sues his parents for having children they can’t take care of. Makes you think of all the children for whom this story is a daily reality. Bravo team #Capernaum pic.twitter.com/J26E2vigc6
— Oprah Winfrey (@Oprah) 11 janvier 2019
It has been clear that everyone who had seen the movie had felt the same things. In fact, the famous American TV host, Oprah Winfrey, had recently posted on her official Twitter account a tweet in which she is praising Nadine Labaki for ‘Capernaum’.
Under a picture of Zain and toddler Yonas, she wrote: “These 2 are so compelling on screen and worthy of your time.”
The post has so far gotten now 315 comments, 2.1K retweet, and 8.7K likes.
In another post on Instagram, Oprah wrote: “Can’t stop thinking about this movie. [..] Really worthy of your time”.
The world agrees, ‘Capernaum’ is worthy of your time!
