Héritages

A deep journey in the Lebanese story through the eyes, the memories and the emotions of a family and its generations. Nostalgic, emotional and so attached to Life, the movie and the regisseur express the same spirit that I breath everytime I step in this crazy land called Lebanon. The movie speaks to you as if you were part of the family, an intimate storytelling that combines "theater fiction" and reportage, a wire between past, present and future of a family and of a nation, an attempt to face up the wounds and to heal them with courage and sensitivity . I loved it and I highly recommend it, thamks to the regisseur!

Came across this movie on netflix. This film dissects a transgenerational problem that, by now, has become a defining factor of eastern mediterranean/ levantine identities: Displacement and its effect on identity. Not only is the theme very relevant to the Lebanon of today, but also the manner with which it treats the topic. To be genuine, eager to discover the past, and full of energy to learn and rebuild the country we dream of!

This "film" is weighed down by an unremarkable premise, a poor structure, cheap green screen sequences, and overall amateur directing -- it's shocking to me that this director has managed to finance his films given the lack of relevance to a contemporary Lebanese or worldwide audience. Mimics the countless Lebanese student films that are made every year, but ultimately results in self-indulgent, schmaltzy storytelling that lacks any soul or sheds light on anything new. A hackneyed approach to low-quality "documentary" films that earn Arab cinema its unfortunate reputation.

If you're interested in how one bourgeois Turkish family ended up in Lebanon, then France, perhaps you'll find it a little interesting. However, considering the tens of millions of Lebanese who have left their homeland, there is absolutely nothing interesting, engaging, or film-worthy about this particular film. There are incredible stories to tell. This simply isn't one of them.

It is with an ultimate honesty and beauty, that Aractangi delivered the roots of his repetitive expatriation along with an exquisite and objective description of historical Lebanese events. Heritages touches the soul in an unique way, out of the box script, that I definitely recommend.

It really takes a a special type of delusional and borderline abusive director/protagonist/father of three to subject his kids to this war storyline. There are some interesting historical aspects of this rich exiled family. The movie is an off-shoot of his other movie "Under the Bombs" where Philippe Aractingi returns to a Lebanon fresh out of a ceasefire to film, askin to a passerby taking photos of a recent car crash. It was not enough that France evacuated him and family at the taxpayer's cost, he must return to Lebanon days after the ceasefire. And coerce his wife to bring his kids from France where they are safe. And show the kids the horrors of war including bullet shells that he collected as a child hilmself. This man is dangerous.