Insyriated

My link http://wp.me/p2R05n-1bA to my blog review of Insyriated is here. It has a very well crafted dramatic take on war without indulging in political dirge. There are claustrophobic and surreal elements to it a bit like Under the Shadow. Holding up as a film made in Lebanon with the principals professionals the remainder of the cast are Syrian refugees. The plot is only over one day. Using a hand held camera it almost recruits you as another pair of eyes reaching into this compelling dark story.

I've always heard about what's happening in Syria - or rather, what they wanted us to see. But this film showed me something different. Something real. Something painful.

It captured a single day in the life of a family whose daily routine has become a dance with fear fear of bombs, of rape, of death. Children crying in the background, a mother spinning like clockwork to keep order in a world without any.

This film doesn't just tell a story it breaks you. It makes you witness the strength of people who lived through a nightmare and survived. The cast embodied these real lives with heartbreaking honesty.

I didn't just watch the film. I felt it. And I won't forget it.

At first you might think this is a movie about war, but it isn't. It goes through the very struggles of everyday life, in an excruciating detail. It reminded me of "besieged" and of the "patient stone". Touching, and deep.

"In Syria" is a feel-bad movie, and it should be because it's about the recent civil war in Syria and its effect on a small group of people holed up in an apartment...waiting and hoping for some escape. The problem is to even leave the place invites death from snipers. Other problems they encounter are rape gangs, low provisions and how to cope with the stress and boredom. It's all very difficult to watch...and very similar to movies made about the recent Bosnian civil war. But, also an important film because it exposes a part of modern history many of us rarely think about and which films generally avoid. Well made and worth your time. Just be forewarned...there is a very difficult to watch rape scene. Anyone who has experienced this sort of awful abuse might do best to avoid the film or watch it with someone for support.

28th STOCKHOLM INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL. DAY 4, NOV 11th 2017. Swedish premiere.

In an apartment in Damascus, in war-torn Syria, a matriarch is struggling, despite all odds, to keep her family and a neighbouring woman safe.

A Belgian-French-Lebanese co-production, "Insyriated" (2017), written and directed by Belgian cinematographer-turned-writer-director Philippe Van Leeuw, was shot in an apartment building in Beirut, Lebanon. With strong acting performances and well-balanced direction, this gripping drama is a feat of shattering realism.