In the Battlefields (2004)
"Maarek hob" (original title)

Lina, a young girl in war-torn Beirut, finds an ally and friend in Sihan, her domineering aunt's maid. Sihan shows Lina what her life could be like, but tests the girl's limits when she asks her to help plot her escape from the city.

Director:

Danielle Arbid

Writer:

Danielle Arbid

Stars:

Marianne Feghali, Rawia Elchab, Laudi Arbid

3 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Marianne Feghali	...	Lina
Rawia Elchab	...	Sihab
Laudi Arbid	...	Yvonne
Aouni Kawas	...	Fouad, the father
Carmen Lebbos	...	Thérèse, the mother
Takla Chamoun	...	Marwa
Roland Tomb	...	Simon
Roger Assaf	...	Uncle Wadih
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Colette Abboud	...	Jeune au soleil
Robert Abyad	...	Créancier 1
Sylva Al Chad	...	Cousine
Samir Aoudé	...	Monsieur Haddad
Lili Arbid Tabet	...	Joueuse de cartes
Danielle Arbid	...	Neighbor's friend
Michel Aswad	...	Concierge

Storyline

Lina, a young girl in war-torn Beirut, finds an ally and friend in Sihan, her domineering aunt's maid. Sihan shows Lina what her life could be like, but tests the girl's limits when she asks her to help plot her escape from the city.

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Plot Keywords:

lebanon war

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Belgium France Germany Lebanon

Language:

Arabic

Release Date:

29 December 2004 (France)

Also Known As:

In the Battlefields

Company Credits

Production Co:

Quo Vadis Cinéma, Versus Production, Taxi Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

"Mich mouhim tkouni hadi"
Written by Elias Nasser & Azar Habib
Performed by Azar Habib

User Reviews

Decent, but not great

Saw this in Seattle this week as part of Seattle Film's Global Lens series. To me this felt like someone's art/film school project. A lot of long drawn out pauses, and pseudo-artistic shots with very little character development. The story was decent enough, with the war in Beirut as a very dim backdrop at best (I was disappointed to not have been drawn into the conflict at all -- there were occasional shots of tanks, and a few scenes filmed in a basement with the sounds of artillery). Had there been a reasonable amount of character development, I might have cared more about what happened in the end. All of the Men in the film seemed to be characterised as selfish and cold, and most of the women seemed helpless (with the exception of the aunt who was an incredibly unlikable tyrant).