Where Do We Go Now?

Film

Nadine Labaki, second from right, in Where Do We Go Now?

Time Out rating:

<strong>Rating: </strong>2/5

User ratings:

<strong>Rating: </strong>5/5
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Time Out says

Tue Jun 19 2012

Lebanese actress-writer-director Nadine Labaki hits the celluloid equivalent of the ‘difficult second album’ with this expansive, misfiring follow-up to her charming debut, ‘Caramel’ (2007). While the earlier film kept its ensemble storyline centred on a Beirut hairdresser’s, here the action unfolds in an isolated rural community where Muslims and Christians live in precarious harmony – the myriad of characters leaves the escalating conflict feeling impersonal and diffuse. The key conceit is how women on both sides use their feminine wiles to keep their volatile menfolk from bringing the national conflict into the village, yet Labaki’s tendency to flit back and forth from broad farce to impassioned pleas for peace never allows the film to settle into coherence or credibility. You can’t fault Labaki’s ambition, or her absolute determination to put the women centre stage, but somehow she neglects the basics of storytelling along the way, with occasional songs and a cross-faith romance intermittently present. This is energetic, bursting with sincerity, yet also frustrating and disappointing. 

Author: Trevor Johnston

5

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Release details

UK release:

Fri Jun 22 2012

Duration:

110 mins

Cast and crew

Cast:

Nadine Labaki, Yvonne Maalouf, Claude Baz Moussawbaa, Antoinette Noufaily

Director:

Nadine Labaki

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Comments & ratings

Rated as: 5/5 (5 ratings)

  • This film is full of humore, poetics with another point of view on the world ( evan it can seems banal it s not) and absoulutely worth to be seen.

    Zina Mina Sun Mar 31
    Rated as: 5/5
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  • I agree with the previous non-professional reviewer who said that this film has been unfairly reviewed. I found it funny, moving, beautiful and ultimately uplifting. The acting, particularly of the women, was very convincing and one forgot at times, that one was watching a film. I loved the way it depicted women just getting on with life and focussing on the important things - family, friends, food and humour.

    Celia Sat Sep 1 2012
    Rated as: 4/5
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  • Brilliant film - tragi-comedy, superb cinematography, good acting and strong story (though a bit far-fetched) and great music. One of the best films I have seen this year (2012).

    Wildwooddreamer Fri Aug 10 2012
    Rated as: 5/5
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  • I feel this film was unfairly reviewed on this website. It was a beautiful film about how remote communities function away from the rest of the world. A fantastic portrayal of how the women in this village cleverly and amusingly distracted the men from religious tensions, the world could learn a lot from this film. The realistic struggle for peace overcame the natural urges of motherhood, religious loyalty and romance, because without peace none of these could continue. It was wonderfully directed, emotive and funny, and naturally acted. It is the story of a whole villages' journey of grief and the struggle to maintain harmony within a community. Mr Johnston has clearly misunderstood what this film was trying to achieve, was clearly sexist, insensitive to the director and the subject of this film.

    katie Sat Jun 30 2012
    Rated as: 5/5
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  • This is one of the most amazing films I've ever seen. It asks you to think differently and immerse yourself into it. The acting is incredibly powerful and gut-wrenching, especially when you consider that the people in the film aren't actually acting, but reliving actual experiences.

    David Riley Wed Jun 27 2012
    Rated as: 5/5
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