There has been an avalanche of powerful, thoughtful films about the Middle East in recent times, from Paradise Now to The Stoning of Soraya M, The Kite Runner, Eyes Wide Open and many more, and this Oscar-nominated Canadian-financed effort deserves its place in that distinguished list.
The story uses the flashback method to look at Lebanon in the 1970s. Canadian twins Jeanne and Simons mother dies and, through notary Lebel, leaves them two letters they must deliver one is to their father, the other to their brother neither of whom the twins knew or, in the case of the brother, even knew existed. Simon is too distraught to even contemplate it and refuses to help, so Jeanne travels to the Middle east and goes on a journey to piece together her mothers story. Slowly she uncovers a terrible history of religious bigotry, torture, rape and even murder.
Her mother Nawal, in true Romeo and Juliet style, had a baby with a Muslim father which had to be placed in a Christian orphanage by her grandmother. She then tries to find her baby but the enemy has invaded, and she witnesses a terrible slaughter in a bus. Now politicised, she assassinates a politician and is thrown into an appalling prison, where despite being raped and tortured she survives, becoming known as the singing woman.
Jeanne, overwhelmed by all of this information, persuades Simon to join her and solve the mystery she still doesnt know who the father is or, even more remote, the identity of the brother. He reluctantly agrees, persuaded by the notary, and becomes more involved in his mothers dark history.
If all of this sounds drily political it isnt director Villeneuve knows exactly how to tell the story with just the right amount of personal drama. Crucially he also knows exactly how much horror to show and when to pull back the bus attack sequence is full-on, bloody and terrifying, but later a rape scene is merely hinted at. He also wraps the political history in the mystery of the story, which makes it always watchable even when the politics threaten to overwhelm. He even admits that viewers of the film need to understand the gist of what can be understood while accepting that the situation has become too complex to be boiled down to black and white.
While the politics may at times verge on the baffling, what holds the attention throughout is the stunning commitment of the cast. Azabal as the mother Nawal is a picture of complex, battered, brave defiance, a woman who has been through almost incomprehensible horrors but remains dignified to the end of her life. Her children, played by Melissa Desormeaux-Poulin and Gaudette, are just as good, especially Desormeaux-Poulin as the determined but baffled Jeanne, a maths genius living the good life in modern day Canada but utterly stunned by the discovery that her mothers life was so appalling.
Overall verdict: Brave, compelling drama which attempts to cover its massive subject in a very human way. Its never easy viewing but its gut-wrenching stuff.
Reviewer: Mike Martin