The Cave

The Cave is not a didactic or information-driven documentary. It's an actively observational grounding of the audience into a truth you have to see to believe-a spiritual appeal to the senses. For every bomb we see almost hit us, we are spared a screen full of text. For every infant hand we see reaching up for the doctor's stethoscope amidst the chaos following a blast, we are spared a formal, scripted interview sit-down or sound bite. When we see a gassed group of children brought to The Cave to die and wrapped in tablecloths because there are no replacements available for their chemically-stained clothes, we are diverted away from more standard informative fare that attempts to describe the indescribable.

This is not about the state of the Syrian war. This IS the Syrian war, enclosed from both ends, with the relentless reverberations of warplanes flying above ground and the normalization of a day-to-day constant of fear.

Most impactful was the perspective of the pediatrician (the subject of the film). Through clinical training, physicians grow a callus for their patients. Intentionally so, to remain calm, collected, rational. But also unintentionally, to subconsciously remove themselves from the trauma children experience in front of them on a daily basis. Seeing Dr. Amani crack, it destroyed me. Locking herself in the room and weeping, waiting for the next wave, not knowing what's going to come next. "Come home," her father insists on voicemail. But the clinic depends on her. It would be nothing without her. We're reminded that heroes are human and vulnerable.

I felt physically beaten down leaving the theater. I had to play my "It's going to be ok" playlist. I am not sure if it will, but if Amani can help these children find some momentary faith, I think we can all do better.

While the hospital personnel at The Cave learn to differentiate by sound the different types of warplanes flying overhead and their country of origin for survival, it was the heart-wrenching sound of another stretcher rolling into the hospital while making the floor and walls shake with the weight of a human being fighting for his life that I dreaded the most during my time watching the documentary. As a viewer I was struggling between wondering how much more of the reality presented to me I could take and wanting to reach through the screen and help them. That palpable was their urgency. It is the unfiltered questions coming out of Dr. Amani's own soul during her moments of most abatement and stress like "Is God really watching?" that fall like a bomb and shake the foundations of her own reality and the morals and practices of the culture around her. The Cave is a masterclass in both documentary filmmaking and in humanity.

Nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the last Academy Awards, The Cave is another hard-hitting account of the humanitarian crisis created in the wake of Syrian Civil War, and concerns a group of doctors as they try to save civilian lives with limited medical resources in an underground makeshift hospital.

Directed by Feras Fayyad, his documentary offers ample evidence of war crimes committed by Bashar Regime against its own citizens, including use of chemical weapons, but the presentation isn't up to the mark. Several segments look as if they were rehearsed before filming, and are lacking the spontaneity that makes them click.

Amidst the daily airstrikes & bombings, it also sheds light on the systemic sexism as even in an environment where death lurks above, a man feels an obligation to tell a female doctor why she should be at home instead of trying to save human lives. But this element is also later overplayed by the director as if he just wanted to drive a point home.

Like any documentary covering the subject of war, The Cave is graphic, disturbing & uncomfortable. Yet unlike most Syrian documentaries, it has a more polished & refined quality, almost like a feature film shot in an active war zone. It is also way more focused on a single person than the collective effort yet unlike For Sama, it is lacking that raw, personal touch.

Overall, The Cave is as gripping as it is heartbreaking but its impact is rather short lived. There are some tense moments that are expertly documented, including the gas attack that's just soul-shattering, but its narrative lacks a compelling structure and becomes repetitive after a while. Bringing to light the brutal reality of doctors operating in labyrinth of caves beneath a war-torn city, The Cave is worth a shot.

It's a great documentary with so many human messages from the start.

Its production values are very good and it's a well-made one.

Sacrificing, danger, fear, war, politics, life and death are among the few themes that you can look through this documentary with the film-maker.

There was another reason that makes watching this documentary hard for me, besides its disturbing imagery which was the fact that my corrupt government is behind all of these and is supporting Bashar al-Assad and its allies to crush Syrian people like this... It's very hard for me to even think about this!

We have so many problems in Iran with our government and they're doing these horrible activities abroad also.

Hope all we can live in a world without these dictators and these totalitarian governments someday...

I urge you to see this great, great film. Despite the harrowing danger, the devastating destruction, this is one of the most uplifting films I've seen in years.