Capernaum (2018)

While serving a five-year sentence for a violent crime, a 12-year-old boy sues his parents for neglect.

Director:

Nadine Labaki

Writers:

Nadine Labaki (screenplay), Jihad Hojeily (screenplay)

Stars:

Zain Al Rafeea, Yordanos Shiferaw, Boluwatife Treasure Bankole

Top Rated Movies #83 | Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 35 wins & 48 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Zain Al Rafeea	...	Zain
Yordanos Shiferaw	...	Rahil
Boluwatife Treasure Bankole	...	Yonas
Kawsar Al Haddad	...	Souad
Fadi Yousef	...	Selim (as Fadi Kamel Yousef)
Cedra Izzam	...	Sahar, the Sister
Alaa Chouchnieh	...	Aspro
Elias Khoury	...	The Judge
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mohammad Al Abdallah	...	Salah
Mohamad Abdellatif	...	Street Kid
Abdo Abdo	...	Notary
Hampig Abraham	...	Street Kid
Jamil Ahmad	...	Street Kid
Mohamad Akkar	...	Kid
Elias Akobegia	...	Employer Snack Falafel

Storyline

Capernaüm ("Chaos") tells the story of Zain (Zain al-Rafeea), a Lebanese boy who sues his parents for the "crime" of giving him life. The film follows Zain as he journeys from gutsy, streetwise child to hardened 12-year-old "adult" fleeing his negligent parents, surviving through his wits on the streets, where he meets Ethiopian migrant worker Rahil, who provides him with shelter and food, as Zain takes care of her baby son Yonas in return. Zain later gets jailed for committing a violent crime, and finally seeks justice in a courtroom.

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Plot Keywords:

prison | baby | poverty | breast feeding | boy | 

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Taglines:

It takes courage to hope. (UK release poster)

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some drug material

Did You Know?

Trivia

Shooting lasted six months and resulted in a cut 12 hours long; it was subject to edits over two years.

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Goofs

At about 1hr 32mins, Zain ties Yonas's leg to the shoe stand to prevent him from following or wandering into busy traffic, but he tied the right leg in the initial scene and then after a cut back to that scene seconds later he is now tied by his left leg.

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Quotes

Zain: I want to make a complaint against my parents. I'd want adults to listen to me. I want adults who can't raise kids not to have any. What will I remember? Violence, insults or beatings, hit with chains, pipes, or a belt? The kindest words I heard were get out son of a whore! Bug off, piece of garbage! Life is a pile of shit. Not worth more than my shoe. I live in hell here. I burn like rotting meat. Life is a bitch.I thought we'd become good people, loved by all. But God doesn't want that for us...

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Connections

References Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater (1987)

User Reviews

Two great boys!

OMG. Zain and Yonas are movie miracles. The director succeeded in crafting them into natural actors. And the story ..... flowing like a strong current that carries you helplessly you can't do nothing but let go of everything. And Zain, how his energy infiltrated my being, I realized that I smiled when he also finally smiled at the end, that through the movie I became him. He is magic!

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

Lebanon USA France Cyprus Qatar UK

Language:

Arabic Amharic

Release Date:

20 September 2018 (Lebanon)

Also Known As:

Chaos

Filming Locations:

Beirut, Lebanon

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$24,988, 16 December 2018

Gross USA:

$1,661,096

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$64,417,003

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mooz Films, Cedrus Invest Bank, Sunnyland Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

126 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1