Where Do We Go Now?

Where Do We Go Now? This was the best film I saw at The Toronto International Film Festival. It won the prize as the People’s Choice Award. I laughed and I cried. This fable was an example of how we can get along in a diverse culture. It also showed the negative side of two different cultures fighting one another. The story takes place in a village in Lebanon. Christians and Muslims live side by side. The mosque is beside the church and the religious leaders get along. The town folk speak the same language and watch the same TV programs. If only it was that simple. Amale is a single mother with a crush on Rabih. He is a local plasterer. It is a riot to see them sing and dance as if the divide between them does not exist. The film dramatically opens as we watch a procession of women clad in black mournfully walking to the cemetery. It is an omen of more to come. It is then surprising to see an interlude with everyone in the town leading a peaceful life in harmony. The harmony is shattered with a newscast of trouble in the area. Unfortunately the people in the town also show their worst side. The mosque is vandalized by the Christians and the church faces damage by the Muslims. The women in town spring to action. They import a group of Ukrainian women (strippers) to divert the hostility and tension with the men. It is hilarious. The calm lasts only briefly and is once again destroyed with a hostile action to a young boy. Once again the two sides go into action. The women beg for a peaceful solution. The film is an allegory and it has a definite impact. The use of humor throughout helps to balance the destructiveness of the real issues. It was joyful to watch the women play a powerful role in the events and to use psychology to try and stop the negative behavior