Under the Bombs: Movie Review (Movie Review Sample)

Under the Bombs: Movie Review [Author's Name] [Institution] Author Note Under the bombs is intense, painful and shows the dark side of war which will cause goosebumps for sure! Rating: 7.5/10.0 MPAA Rating: R for intense theatrical elements depicting war and sexual content. Date of Review: June 4, 2016. Under the Bombs: Movie Review Under the Bombs was released in the year 2007. It was released on DVD in the year 2009 and can be seen online or by buying a DVD from a movie store. The running time is 1 hour and 38 minutes and it has also been shown on TV in the United States CITATION IMD07 \l 1033 (IMDb, 2007). The movie "Under the Bombs" is a quasi-documentary style movie that revolves around the story of a Lebanese Muslim woman who tries desperately to locate her son and her sister who went missing during the Israeli bombings on Lebanon in the year 2006. It is a dramatic and romantic war movie that has been directed by Philippe Aractingi. The script was written by Aractingi himself and Michel Leviant. The main character named "Zeina" has been played by Nada Abou Farhat. The character of the taxi driver named "Tony" has been played by Georges Khabbaz. In the war ridden Lebanon, he is the only man that agrees to take Zeina to the dangerous southern part of the country CITATION Phi08 \l 1033 (French, 2008). This movie review will critically analyze the plot, characters, direction, cinematography and the overall theme on which the movie is based. Nada Abou Farhat who plays the role of "Zeina" in the movie is a beautiful Lebanese woman who has lost his son in the Israeli bombings on Lebanon. After 33 days of carnage, she comes back to Lebanon and after a lot of struggle finds a man named "Tony (played by Georges Khabbaz)" who is willing to take her to the southern part of the country. Lebanon is in ruins after heavy bombings by Israel and the duo has to travel between the ruins to the south of Lebanon CITATION The10 \l 1033 (The Red Phoenix, 2010). Georges Khabbaz and Nada Abou Farhat starred together in a movie called Void as well which was released in the year 2013. Both of them have played their roles in an excellent manner and deserve credit for their performances in Under the bombs. The plot chosen by the writers is intense and nerve wrecking. The cruelties that a war brings with it have been depicted in a very intense manner and wreak havoc on audience's heart. Under the bombs is not only about the war and the atrocities it brings with it, it contains a beautiful love story as well. The plot is very gripping as the audience witnesses the love that a mother has for her children, a sister has for her siblings and the love that two humans have for each other. As Zeina and Tony travel through the ruins of Lebanon, they discover the truths about war and about each other. The difficult time that they spend together while in search of Karim (Zeina's son) and Maha (Zeina's sister), makes them fall in love. Furthermore, the sexual tension between them has been depicted in a very natural and compelling manner. Georges Khabbaz who played the role of Tony (a cynic taxi driver) has done justice to his role along with Nada Abou Farhat who played the role of Zeina. Both of them have given performances that makes the audience indulge completely into the movie. What makes the movie unique is that the other characters in the movie are not actors by profession CITATION Vin \l 1033 (Sicari, 2010). They are real life people caught in real life situations in war ridden Lebanon. Philippe Aractingi has done a tremendous job in capturing the expressions and conditions of these people throughout the movie. The direction of the movie seems more like a documentary than a theatrical film. This is partly because of the fact that most of the scenes have been captured when they were happening in real time. The bombings shown in the movie are actual bombings that were done on the civilian population by Israel. The ruins and the search for refugees shown in the movie is also actual footage of the events. Mr. Aractingi has done a fantastic job in combining facts with fiction CITATION Soc08 \l 1033 (Socialist Review, 2008). In short, you won't find the direction of the movie to be similar to other movies out there. But the way all the things have been caught and presented on the camera is fantastic. Some critics are of the view that it should have been a documentary instead of a movie because of the documentary style direction of the movie. Cinematography is not like conventional movies. This is because of the fact that Under the bombs is not a typical movie. As most of the war scenes have been captured in real time, the lighting and the effects are not up to the mark. But considering the way and situation in which these scenes were captured, one has to...