Civilised People

Scenes from Lebanon's civil war, sometime around the declaration of its 576th ceasefire. It's a patchwork piece, emphasising the random and rampaging madness of the fragmented remnants of Beirut civil society, suggestive of greater horrors (a housekeeper holds several children blindly hostage in his cellar in an act of stubborn and senseless vengefulness). Finally, it's because the film never really penetrates the cracked surface of these lives, though it has its share of colourful grotesqueries, a little like Kusturica, but lighter. The Lebanese censor objected to inflammatory language against Christ, the Virgin Mary, Islam and foreigners, and cut some 47 minutes. This is the original version.