West Beirut (1998)

Too much of everything

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Let me start by saying that I'm a Lebanese guy, and I had to see this movie for that reason. It tells the tale of two regular Muslim boys who meet a regular Christian girl, and they become friends and while trying to find a camera shop, they explore different areas in the war torn city of Beirut. In the middle of the search, they find themselves in a brothel that really was rather popular back in the 80s. The bread and food shortage was also a huge problem during the civil war. This movie is an accurate depiction of the Lebanese civil war and it is well made despite the rather low budget. I can absolutely recommend this movie at least to everyone who is interested in the Lebanese civil war.

"West Beirut".. Thanks to my Lebanese friends that I met in the U.S.A (both Christians and Muslims as they identify themselves before indicating their national identities), I had a pretty good information about civil war, religious&ethnic conflicts, Lebanon's political&economic relations with other countries.. For the ones who don't have knowledge about civil war, will be lost in this movie. Because in the movie, history of Lebanon or Beirut at least, is not narrated.. Relations between different religious and ethnic groups, and relations of Lebanon with other countries are not informed.. So who supports whom, who fights against whom and why..not informative.. Well, I saw images of bombings, how a beautiful city is being destroyed, how much Lebanese people are suffering, going thru trauma etc.. How citizens of Lebanon are facing that meaningless west\east division.. As we see, Tarek, Omar and May show how different sects can get along with each other as long as they are not fanatics (fanaticism kills the human soul)!!, this is not only in the movie, but in the real life too.. For example, in the beginning of the movie, when Tarek is having a conservation with that bread-maker, that old man tells Tarek that, if someone asks your religion, tell him I am LEBANESE! and send him to me.. This is the main message of the movie. Well, for a nation to be united, national identity should come first, then may come religious identity. That should to be kept in all Lebanese people's minds, and never to be forgotten! "West Beirut" brings individual lives in war time on the scene reflecting the mistakes that human beings do all the time.. we all do not get lessons and repeat the history, but we have to change this, should take a new direction.. Hope to watch more movies showing how dirty and interest-oriented such wars are.. Smiling faces versus hopeless and fearful gazes.. A life in peace versus a future with pre-war tensions, war and post-war traumatic disorders .. Let us all pick one..

I wouldn't know how a non-Lebanese would look at this film. But to me, it's a very personal movie because I've lived similar events, even if 10 years later. It's definitely one of my favourite movies. And I have to say that the 3 leads have done great jobs for first-timers. "Carmen Lebbos" as the mother was superb, but my favourite character will always be "Leila Karam as" "Emm walid"

Thank God for IFC and the Sundance Channel here in the U.S. Without these two channels, there are so many films that I otherwise would never have known about less alone actually watched: especially living in the heart of Los Angeles, Studio Capital of the World. I was lucky enough though to stumble upon West Beirut and I just fell in love with it. Somebody in the user comments section said that it was "a very beautiful and funny film if you are arabic", but I'd have to strongly disagree because as a westerner and and an american I found it perhaps even more funny and beautiful as a result of where I come from. Not to get into politics, but it's kind of hard not to, it is so refreshing and wonderful and eye opening to see a film with arab characters in their homeland living their lives the way they really did and would instead of only knowing that part of the world from the violence that is constantly strewn about on the evening news and the constant 'propaganda machine' of american media which seems to be totally controlled and run nowadays by corporations and pharmaceutical companies. This movie, for me, just reinforced the idea that we are all alike no matter where we live on this planet and I find it sad to think that the only way I have to find out and appreciate a history lesson on Beirut or the life of the lebanese is through a film. Being an american, if you listen to our government at all, it would be a really bad idea to travel to the middle east. And so without films like this, it would be impossible for me to experience the oneness of all of us or a glimpse of a country and it's culture. What a beautiful idea it would be to cut out the Bush administration and all the other governments for a month out of the year and allow everyone from each country to go and look at the other side. I think we'd all benefit strongly. Until then, I'll thank movies like West Beirut for being made and allowing me the luxury of being part of another world for a couple of hours.A great film.