Very rough draft — not yet finished
Capernaum means “chaos” in French. It also indicates the doomed village in the Bible in the Galilee of northern Israel. In the village, Jesus was supposed to have taught in the synagogue and healed the sick. There is a parallel between what the Bible mentions and the 2018 Lebanese film ‘Capernaum’. The film’s young hero, Zain, is infuriated by the indignity and cruelty his parents have submitted their family to as a result of their poverty. They make money smuggling opioids to prison, (where Zain’s brother is) crushing the drugs, mixing them with water then dumping clothes into this solution to then dry up and absorb the drugs. To his horror, Zain’s parents then decide to sell his 11-year old sister to their land-lord as a child bride. Zain runs away from his abusive home and files to sue his parents for “allowing him to be born” in a corrupt system. The film illustrates just how painful being neglected as a child can be, or how scarring it is to be sex trafficked. The New York Times said it best, “‘Capernaum’ is Not Just a Film, but a Rallying Cry” (The New York Times). Not only did the film receive a 15-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival, but it went on to win the Jury Prize, one of the many awards on the festival circuit. It secured a Golden Globe nomination for best-foreign language film, and an Academy Award nomination for Best International Feature. While it did not win at those award shows, it is safe to say that Capernaum was not only heart-breaking, but impactful. The film is extremely appropriate for our current world climate and a magnificent part of cinema that presents a child’s perspective of a world that is filled with conflict and oppression.
It is an international film, so it may not be as known as ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ or ‘Forrest Gump’, but I believe it should. The tragic story of Zain, a 12 year-old-boy that sues his parents for giving him life in such a chaotic world, is one that should be watched by everyone. The film not only indicates how corrupt and unjust the system is in Lebanon and in so many under-developed and poor countries, it also points out the flaws that we find in even the richest and most developed nations. ‘Capernaum’ shows that even though we have people in governments and systems all around the world that say they are going to protect us, it is very easy for cruelty, injustice and selfishness to trump kindness and decency.
Capernaum is filled with powerful and gut-wrenching scenes. While the whole film depicts that the flaws you find in the system of so many poor countries are also found in even the richest and most developed nations, one of the most heart-breaking scenes is when Zain’s beloved sister is taken away after being sold into marriage by her parents. Zain is furious with his parents and begins to hit them. His anger and suffering in this scene is part of a much bigger problem. The world Zain lives in is filled with children who aren’t even happy about being alive because they see themselves as parasites as a system that won’t even allow them to have their basic rights. When Zain sues his parents he’s also suing the corrupt system he lives as a part of. A whole society that denies humans of the very things we need to survive. The story that is shown through this Lebanese masterpiece is something that can resonate with many Americans today. With our current democracy in the United States, people are being denied of their life because of their skin color, and women who are detained by ICE are having their wombs removed against their will. The people in power in the United States, in Lebanon, all over the world for that matter, have the ability to do something, to enact change, yet there are very few who out those words into action. The flaws we see in our government here, are flaws that are present in every government but with different examples. Zain was not protected since the day he was born. He was a pawn in a flawed system. Is it possible for us to still trust the systems we live in to protect us?
