"Where Do We Go Now?": Feminism In The Name Of God

Sometimes with foreign films the humor gets lost in translation, because humor is such an intricate part of culture and how a society experiences life. The Lebanese film "Where Do We Go Now?" overcomes this by means of a heartfelt story of love, coexistence, and tolerance. The film is genuinely comedic and engaging to say the least. The plot touches on big issues such as the religious conflicts in the Middle East and the role of women in these societies. Directed and starring Nadine Labaki, the film  really focuses on the feminine side of the story and how they are able to find the things that unite their village in the midst of great animosity.

The story takes place in a remote village in Lebanon, a village in which both Christians and Muslims live together. When the news of a religious conflict taking place in other sites of the country arrive, the women in this town make it their mission to keep the men oblivious in order to prevent a bloodbath. The situations and tactics the women use to distract their husbands and sons are really imaginative and certainly hilarious. Hiring Ukrainian exotic dancers to live among the villagers for a week, faking a miraculous divine encounter, and even drugging them so they wont let their raging testosterone take the best of them. An important story within the film, is the Romeo and Juliet-like relationship between Amale (Nadine) who is a Christian and Rabih (Julian Farhat) a Muslim himself. They represent this ideal that love is blind and can overcome even something as profound as a religious conflict. There is indeed drama in the film, very heartbreaking moments that show the terrible things people do in the name of God. This atrocities can shake the faith of even the most devoted individuals, but in the end it shows that sometimes loving our neighbor is more essential to our survival than any religious denomination.

Female empowerment becomes the bearing flag of Nadine Labaki's story. This feminist approach to the issues in this village tends to, at times, make the men in the story look like simple minded creatures. They are easily seduced by women with few clothes and some good food.Perhaps the joke is on us because it presents us with the barbaric code of rules by which most of the masculine population lives by. Having said this, if the men in the village were not portrayed as so, the film would lose its campy aura. The women here are mothers, business owners, community leaders, and more than anything friends. They carry the weight of the conflict outside, so it wont affect their loved ones and that its admirable. The film; however, has a big flaw. There are a couple musical numbers in the film that seem out of place, disjointed with the tone of the overall film. They are comedic, but they make the film seem some sort of stew that has elements of many genres than don't seem to blend good together.

 Overall, the film its very enjoyable. There is truth and heart in the story. The cast is great, and as in any good ensemble piece, the chemistry is there between all the characters. I don't believe Labaki is trying to answer all questions about religious conflicts or the role of women in these. Nevertheless, her approach at least gets you to, in a fun and entertaining way, think about what really matters in our earthly and ephemeral lives. "Where Do We Go Now?" is out now in Blu-ray and DVD. Grade B+