February162011
Clown make-up can be really fun when you’ve volunteered to have the neighbours’ kids over for playtime, but if you’ve got an important date with prince charming coming up you’ll want to look your beautiful - albeit enhanced - best. With today’s nab, you can invest in learning the techniques of self beautification at a reduced price. A make-up mogul will determine which colors work best for you, teach you how to bring out your best features and send you on your way with a customized look.
Spending a fortune on having professional make-up done everytime an occasion, desired or otherwise, rears its head can be quite draining to the wallet.
With 60% off this do-it-yourself lesson you’ll save yourself the trouble of googling starlets with similar skin tones and features, ready to face the challenge of going to your third cousin’s ‘grand marriage’ with less expenses to worry about.
This professional make up lesson offered by Silkor will also make it easier to dab on the right shades every morning without having to go through the entire pack of make-up removal cleansing towelettes. Afterall you could get a rash.
Gift vouchers are also available for a friend that may have the habit of showing up to the office looking like a sad raccoon.
Diane Farah
February62011
Recently released on DVD, Beirut The Last Home Movie is a documentary initially filmed in 1981, set in Beirut, exploring the lives the of the well-to-do Boustros family upon the return of the youngest Boustros daughter ‘Gaby’ to Lebanon after 15 years of absence.
Though starting off as a depiction of war ridden Beirut, the film later takes a much more personal turn as it sheds light on the individual members of the Boustros family: the widowed mother and her 4 children who all live in their gorgeous 200 year old mansion, doubling as an oasis in the middle of a desert of destruction.
The focus of the film is undoubtedly turned towards the 3 sisters Mona, Nayla and Gaby: their relationships, lives, delusions and bond to the house.
In a ‘Cries and Whispers’ meets ‘The Dreamers’ type of mixture, the sisters never leave the house, lounging around discussing feelings, opinions and introspecting for the most part of the film. As eccentric as they are different, Mona and Nayla still manage to share a husband from whom they’ve each had a child, and with whom they all live, in the very same house their great-grandfather built.
Shot with exquisite taste and unassuming ‘cinema vérité’ narration coupled with original music by Ziad Rahbani, the charmingly grainy ‘Beirut The Last Home Movie’ remains an intimate look at the deepest feelings of a generation of elite ‘children’, struggling with the commonness of war.
Diane Farah
5PM
Based on an adaptation of Reginald Rose’s “12 Angry Men” comes the play entitled “12 Angry Lebanese” acted out by the inmates of the notorious Roumieh prison, Zeina “Iso” Daccache style.
A total of 40 inmates brought together regardless of race, crime, age, color and creed participate in the project bringing – alongside the interpretation of the courtroom drama – live original music, comedy sketches, personal testimonies and even a dance number to the audience very closely surrounding them, within the prison walls.
As an inmate mentions during the opening monologue, no one can appreciate freedom as well as the prisoners can, and for the first time in the Arab world, this fortunate group of prisoners are able to communicate their frustration, remorse, the life lessons they’ve learned and even their talent to the world.
In a wonderful effort to transport the theater to these convicted men as a form of therapy and release, the project brings appreciation to the human value of these individuals, regardless of the life choices they’ve made.
The inmates’ interpretation of the 12 men deciding on the innocence or guilt of a 19-year-old boy convicted of murder and sentenced to death is nothing short of breathtaking. For brief moments we are taken by the reality of the play only to be reminded of the reality of the “actors” through the intertwining sketches, which is as ironic as it is impressive – Definitely an experiment gone right.
Diane Farah
5PM
Before the lights even go out, the elevated and significantly slanted metal stage announces great promise. And as soon as the two ‘maids’ Carol Abboud and Nada Abou Farhat stagger onto the stage, you can feel the weight of Jawad Al Assadi’s careful direction in every taken step.
Initially part of the ‘Jean Genet Through Arab Eyes’ festival back in October, Iraqi director Jawad Al Assadi’s second rendition of ‘The Maids’ (Al Khadimatan) is still running at Babel Theater, and the reason for that is plain to see.
The spoken dialogue in classical Arabic is the fascinating translation of Jean Genet’s original text, uttered with great involvement and grace by the two actresses who embody the characters of sister maids ‘Claire’ (Nada Abou Farhat) and ‘Solange’ (Carol Abboud) so perfectly.
In a looping failing fantasy of killing ‘Madame’ whom they serve wretchedly, the sisters put the manifestation of ‘female hysteria’ on display.
Total desperation, loathing of themselves and each other and sadomasochism are merely a few of the maids’ occupations while ‘Madame’ is away, complete with role-playing dress up time in their mistress’s clothing, jewels and heels.
They may seem equally insane at first glance, but a closer look at their behavior will reveal that Claire is actually more of a nervous wreck than Solange is – if that’s even possible. Though they take equal turns portraying both sides of the power divide, Claire is depicted as the more vulnerable, more naïve sibling, while Solange has a more manipulative and sinister side and may be slightly more ‘together’.
The play then escalades to a dramatic and surprising denouement that is both thrilling and breathtaking to partake in. Do NOT miss.
Diane Farah
5PM
Based on real events, “Shola Cohen” is a self-titled film about the lead femme fatale. Shola, of Jewish descent, lives in Beirut in an area called “Wadi Abu Jmil”, known for its Jewish community. Using her beauty and charm, she runs an espionage ring for the Israeli Intelligence, right from Beirut.
Although it’s a mystery how, Shola “Cohen” manages to keep her religion a secret while mingling with government officials and requesting specific favors and secret information of them in return for exotic dancers and under-age escorts. Her “sophisticated” ways – as the DVD cover will have you believe – are a mixture of multilingual interventions, capricious behavior and many greasy lovers.
Throughout the film everyone seems to be talking about how “dangerous” the “situation” is while making only vague attempts at explaining the logistics of the espionage operation, giving viewers the feeling that they’re playing make-believe.
Running at an excruciating 123 mins, the film has the feel of a low budget made-for-TV movie with continuity mistakes, awkward transitions, sub-par lighting, clumsy dialogue and unimpressive acting. Not to mention the main actress’s wig that looks like it was borrowed from a drag-queen’s wardrobe.
If you manage to overlook the story, the lack of research and the cinematic language, you’re left with the set designs and wardrobe that have at least been more examined than the other components of the film and that give it the bit of credibility it retains.
Diane Farah
5PM
“They say everything can be replaced, but there’s something in a person that can’t be replaced”.
So shared one of the painters rummaging in the rubble in Lebanese filmmaker Jean Chamoun’s latest documentary “Longing of the Laurel” recently released on DVD.
Chamoun’s take on the 2006 Lebanese-Israeli war focuses mainly on its aftermath, through the eyes of two women from south Lebanon: Khadija Herz, a member of the resistance and former Israeli prisoner, and Kheirat El Zein, a painter with a calling for helping the afflicted.
The weight of the film rests mainly on Khadija’s shoulders, as she takes us through the burial and mourning of her martyr son, her stories of Israeli imprisonment – complete with accounts of soldiers kicking her in the back so that she couldn’t “breed more dogs” – and her ongoing struggle to help the survivors rebuild with the very little they have left, against the backdrop of complete destruction.
Kheirat, however, falls behind with her contribution to both the story and her friend Khadija as she gives off a bland and unauthentic vibe. Being part of the underdeveloped sub-plot of ‘painting for war relief’ doesn’t help her input on the film either.
‘Longing’ is after all underlined as Khadija and the people who share her fate have no choice but to fight with the conviction that all blood shed for the land is but a blessing, while they long solely to reunite with the ones they lost.
Diane Farah
5PM
Lebanese director Borhane Alaouié’s film “Khalass” recently released on DVD is a contemplative view of post-war Beirut - as are most of his films - with more personal involvement than any of his previous works.
Although the movie is a 2007 release, the time of the narrative is somewhat vague, but thanks to the landscapes and soundtrack we can roughly assume it’s set in early 2000.
The cinematography, dialogues and general feel suggest a 90s era depiction of Beirut; it’s as if the director is trying to convey the stillness of the socio-political situation regardless of the time frame.
Alaouié’s deepest sentiments of the city and the people inhabiting it shine through: his odd and prominent association between the intertwined fates of alley cats and Men throughout the movie, the main character Ahmad’s struggle to make ends meet as a poetic journalist turned crook, that ends up costing him his job and his lover… Alaouié goes as far as to include himself in a single scene of the movie, seemingly a father figure to his once young self.
“Khalass” ends on a rather harsh and somber note, with dreams crushed and hearts broken, in a city where the people seem to be coasting rather than living, with nothing but futile occupations to fill their gaping voids.
One thing is for sure; it certainly doesn’t come from a “glass half full” point of view.
Diane Farah
