The movie has a lot of camera shakes and drone shots but I think its because the settings are a bit difficult to do anything else.
A lot of shots were in buses and from personal account they don' t have a lot of space for a tripod or any kind of Stabilizer.
Drone shots were only used to establish settings. There are areas in Beiruts were the roads are too tight for SUVs to come with their equipment. In addition, these roads aren't paved.
So I understand that the crew needed a portable setup. Drones and DSLRs
Some people are saying that these were done just to get the hype for the film but in my opinion there is an economical reason for the style the movie was done in.
The crew was also working with inexperienced actors so a lot of them would uncomfortable with talking with the camera head on. That would be a reason why for most of the scenes the camera seems hidden and in strange angles.
There seems to be consistent argument that the Director picked the pretty faced boy to compile the story more to the foreign audience. To be honest, the movie industry has been shameless about this from a . I would agree that the main character was played by some one who wasn't as pretty. The story would't have been as significant to me.
I would also like to emphasize that the main character and his family are meant to be Lebanese not Syrian or Palestinian in the film. There has been a repeated concern that the movie depicts Syrian refugees in a very poor manner. The movie does the opposite. It depicts Syrian Refugees in a better situation than the local poorer community.
Now as much as I like the film, the movie did have its flaws which were pointed out by the low rating reviews. I was going to give a 10 but after reading the reviews. I had to drop it to a 9.
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The second character you see in the film is the director herself. She plays as the child's lawyer and is somewhat playing the kid's savior in a way. It annoys me because it depicts the image that only the director herself can solve the situation. She is also putting herself on a self proclaimed pedestal. It also states that she sides with Zain's solution that these people shouldn't have children. I understand that Zain is 12 years old and is quite short tempered but his lawyer should be educated and a bit more reasonable. Again, if the lawyer wasn't played by the director I would be more forgiving.
In addition, throughout the film Zain does not beg for money. He always buys what he can and tries to find work. This made me like the character more. The fact that he thought himself as a capable individual who didn't want anything handed to him.
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If you are lebanese, I highly recommend to watch this. It's rarely we have movies that depict these kind of situations in the country. They are always shunned to side from the public eye but they need to be brought forward and discussed.A Movie that is current to the times. If you are a foreigner, I'm not sure if you could relate to a lot of the inside jokes.
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