Oh what fun! A child sues his parents for emancipation. In the 1980s, this plot was a comedy called Irreconcilable Differences. Of course, the eighties version lacked the prison shiv element and the deportation-of-illegals excuse to separate mother and baby. In fact, the whole prepubescent homelessness in Beirut is about as fun as living your entire life as a character in a Saw film. Although, wait. I didn’t see all of Irreconcilable Differences; wasn’t there a point at which five-year-old Drew Barrymore was chained to a pipe in a sewage basement and handed a rusty hacksaw for her only chance at “freedom?” Am I misremembering?
If you think I’ve gone too far, you obviously have not seen Capernaum, a film whose bleak rivals the best of ‘em. It only took thirty-four years for people to figure out there’s nothing funny about a plot in which neglectful parents push their child to the divorce stage. The added benefit here is that Zain (Zain Al Rafeea) petitions the court while wearing chains. Yes, he stabbed a guy and is about as remorseful as OJ.
So how did Zain go from lovable, sullen, trashmouthed street rat to sullen, trashmouthed, imprisoned street rat? Turns out his parents really are jerks, and, under similar conditions, I’d have no problem divorcing them, too. Zain’s gang are Syrian refugees, living as a family of n (where n>7) to their squalor; I have no idea how big their family actually is. It seems to gain a new child with each new scene. Zain, the eldest and, I think, the only boy, lives for the hustle to feed that 60-pound frame of his. His parents don’t care … about anything. Dressing, bathing, feeding … they seem quite indifferent to the plight of their children. That is until the pedophile merchant down the block expresses his poorly-hidden intentions on their eldest daughter. Then, and only then, are Mr. & Mrs. Zain content to take a stand, happily selling their 11-year-old offspring for a dowry of novelty t-shirts. You think I’m kidding here, but I’m not far off.
Now I need no inspiration to mock American values. I think our worship of money has led us down some very dark paths, and we are seeing the results in full fruition at this time in history. HOWEVER, for all I disagree with American culture or think we could stand to learn from other cultures, AT LEAST WE AMERICANS KNOW IT’S WRONG TO SELL YOUR 11-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER INTO SEXUAL SLAVERY.
This move inspires Zain to run away from home and hitch his star to Rahil (Yordanos Shiferaw), an Ethiopian immigrant living in a pillow fort. Rahil accepts so as to get free daycare for her pre-language toddler, Yonas (Boluwatife Treasure Bankole). Although while out desperately trying to collect wages, Rahil gets deported, leaving Zain and one-year-old Yonas alone, penniless, and living in a shack where what little water there is runs brown. As Zain’s new life of filth-peddler/au pair comes to fruition, I had but one thought, “he’s better off in jail.” Capernaum has been waiting to get to this point. The relationship between Zain and Yonas is the tale it wanted to tell. And it did so. A lot.
If I’m being fair, Capernaum is not as depressing as the scene I’ve painted. This is mostly because Zain is clearly a fighter. Underfed, undersized, underclothed, and underappreciated, Zain is the kid you root for entirely because he has an excellent sense of good/evil and personal responsibility … even if he hasn’t any idea how to solve his problems. We can see that terrible as his life is, he is certainly better off than if he stayed with his parents … which is, apparently, two steps down from being in jail. Capernaum, hence, is probably not the feel-good Spielbergian romp of 2018 tailor-made for the whole family to enjoy, but it is a powerful, if perhaps a bit misguided, piece, and a movie you won’t forget anytime soon.
A kid with no dollars, but sense
Has no trouble leaping his fence
“Send me to Hell
I’m happy to dwell
So long as I’m away from the ‘rents”
Rated R, 121 Minutes
Director: Nadine Labaki
Writer: Nadine Labaki, Jihad Hojeily & Michelle Keserwany
Genre: Childhood sucks
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Social Workers
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Lebanese officials
