Human emotions are like air and like air, they can be found everywhere, even in a sewage pit. It takes a special kind of bravery and resolve to enter that pit, stoically breath in that stinking air and help drain the muck.
Labaki is that kind of a brave director and she showed that kind of a resolve in ‘Caparnaüm’.
The camera is unflinching, the screen play unrelenting. 123 minutes race by and when the movie ends the audience is left gasping for breath, struggling to process the incredible human drama they just witnessed.
A lot happens in those 123 minutes, abject poverty forces people to make hobsonian choices that have gut wrenching consequences. Much pain is inflicted by some on others and yet it is difficult to spot a villain. Even the worst of the oppressors seem driven by a genuine need to help.
And among all this is a 12 year old boy, serving a 5 year sentence for stabbing someone. He wants to sue his parents for giving birth to him and putting him through hell. This is his story and the stories around him. The story of his parents and their several children, the story of his favourite sister and his efforts to protect her, the story of an illegal immigrant hiding her son from the authorities as she struggles to find work and work permits, the stories of two endearing odd balls, a human trafficker and forgerer, a deadhead shopkeeper who truly thinks its okay to marry 11 year old girls and the story of a wise judge upon whom lies the responsibilty of making sense of it all and passing judgement.
As these stories swirl around, they weave a tapestry of breathtaking poignancy and pathos.
As in life, in the end there are no winners or losers, just people battered and bruised, looking for redemption, telling a version of truth that most suits them.
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