Hardabasht

Excellent breathtaking movie, the spectator is transported to Ouzai, in the southern suburbs of Beirut to witness a succession of troublesome overwhelming events taking place around two drug dealing brothers Hussein and Abou Fadel. We follow them at home, in the neighborhood, the streets, the hospital... Events unfold in drama in a vibrant crude crescendo. The actors are true and excellent to a point seeming in a documentary. The screenplay is rich in depicting up to exaggeration a dramatic reality of the poors. The camera uncovers without judging. The movie does not pretend to carry a moral message though justice and feelings are present. A must see movie.

I recently saw this movie that left me feeling quite disappointed. The scenario was weak and unoriginal, relying on tired cliches that failed to engage me as a viewer. The attempts at humor were equally lackluster, and the comic scenes felt forced and contrived. Overall, the movie lacked any significant impact or meaning, leaving me feeling like I had wasted my time.

While I appreciate that making a good movie is a difficult task, I can't help but feel like this one missed the mark. The lack of originality and depth in the scenario made it difficult to care about the characters or their struggles. The humor, meanwhile, felt like it was trying too hard, with jokes that fell flat and scenes that were more cringe-worthy than funny.

Perhaps the biggest issue with the movie was its lack of significance. There was no real message or takeaway that I could glean from the plot, which left me feeling like I had just watched a series of disjointed scenes without any real purpose. Overall, I would not recommend this movie to others, as it simply did not live up to its potential.

Hardabasht is an over saturated piece of reality that takes place in Ouzai. As an actual Ouzai resident said after watching this film "Neko ekht lmanta2a".

Hardabasht describes and discusses the chaotic lifestyle of 3 brothers who are involved in the drug business living in poverty, and with that Mohammad Dayekh does an amazing job writing wise. The dialogue is amazing and smooth, mixed with the incredible acting of the cast, the conversations and the scenes feel raw, proactive and unscripted. In addition to that, the minimal art direction works really well and compliments the film. However, the film lacked alot of elements that held it back from achieving greatness.

The biggest problem that Hardabasht suffers from is the editing. Almost all scenes comes out of nowhere with little to no room to conclude the previous scene, initially breaking the immersing experience over and over again. Adding to that, the lazy sound effects and design that was laughable at times. Moreover, it is very important to point out that the film had little to no structure. With a very scattered pace, lacklustering climax, and an ironic but very unsatisfying ending, having a lot of plot holes and unresolved issues with the main characters and events. It felt like Hardabasht was a pilot episode for a series with its structure more than a film. Some events were forced in the film to promote a specific agenda that Mohammad Dayekh believes in but it doesn't really serves anything to the main plot and just leaves alot of question marks instead.

Another main issue that Hardabasht suffers from is the cinematography.

Almost all shots in the film are handheld, which make sense in the context of the film but it is executed very poorly. Alot of the shots are too shaky, and not handheld shaky, but unusable footage shaky. I actually had headaches multiple times watching some scenes. Alongside focusing issues in other scenes and lighting errors that made some shots looked like it was shot on a greenscreen Even though it was shot on site.

All in all, Hardabasht had some good qualities but it lacked in the majority of it. I still recommend for you to watch it because it is something very new to the lebanese cinema scene. Just not something all that good.

Finally a brainy movie that respects the viewer.

Lots of symbolism, many will just stick to the drama and comedy but not character's complexity in every aspect of our Lebanese daily trauma and what it represents.

A must watch movie.

The dialogue is amazing and smooth, mixed with the incredible acting of the cast, the conversations and the scenes feel raw, proactive and unscripted. In addition to that, the minimal art direction works really well and compliments the film. However, the film lacked alot of elements that held it back from achieving greatness.

Hussain kaouk Mohammad dayekh Gabriel Yahmmin Fouad Yahmmin Randa kaadi.