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 #89 | Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 35 wins & 46 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:

boy | 12 year old | courtroom | prison | child marriage | 

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Taglines:

"Why are you suing your parents?" "For giving me life."

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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

Rahil's toddler son whom Zain cared for actually was played by a girl, Boluwatife Treasure Bankole.

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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: Your words pierce my heart. I no longer want to see you. You're heartless.

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Connections

References The Nut Job (2014)

User Reviews

Capernaum

Zain Al Rafeea is a terrific revelation in this powerful and profoundly devastating look at the miserable existence of a poor child who, like many others, deserved so much more from life - and I'm pretty sure his eyes of infinite sadness will haunt me for the rest of my life after this.

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:

$64,413,178

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