Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Where do we go now?: Dousing communal fire

In most cases, the cause for communal flair is invariably a flimsy reason. However, it takes a giant effort to douse the fire of hatred. Well, it is not that impossible to build a society on communal harmony, except that someone has to do some hard work and someone will have to ‘pay’. The Lebanese film Where do we go now tries to deal with such a sensitive theme.








Director: Nadine Labaki

Film Clip
As expected, in any situation of communal disharmony, women are the ones who have to bear the brunt. And as the director rightly assesses, it is the women who unfortunately have to make great efforts to make reason work rather than emotion. In this film, their giant effort, of course, pays in the end. 
The story is about a village in Lebanon where Muslims and Christians have for years lived in harmony. However, the good times as they say are not to last forever. Skirmishes on communal lines give rise to violence and death, resulting in women losing their husbands and sons. While the women reason out that it is only by communal harmony that they can survive, the men are as unreasonable and blind as ever, being consumed by their ego.
It takes some bold, risky and, of course, creative efforts on the part of these tired women to bring about some sense and peace in the village. The film indeed is a brilliant portrayal of a society that thrives on ego clashes and religious fanaticism. The film lays threadbare the character of a society that cares less about human lives and more about religious bigotry. 

- Melwyn Pinto SJ