This is not normally a film I'd go out of my way to watch, in fact, it was another of various film titles my mom picked to watch on the Netflix list. Now that I have, I must say I was quite bemused at the way the whole thing was depicted, that being the way a war between two different religions in Lebanon is being averted by various of the women in the way they treat their men and the way they do little things to keep them from getting out of control. While there are some humorous things here and many of the musical numbers do take things to a whimsical tone, there were also many touching dramatic things that were also effective to me, if not as much to my mom who didn't seem as touched. So on that note, I say Where Do We Go Now? is worth a look if something about conflict in a foreign country intrigues you.

I've been skimming through the reviews posted about this film, and I was surprised to see that they are mostly positive reviews. I found this weird at first, especially since most of the people I discussed the film with within my circle of friends and colleagues didn't really like it. But then I thought the contrary, this is normal since essentially this kind of film is very easily likable.When I watched the movie I felt a lot of things, it definitely did stir up a lot of emotions in me while watching; there were tears, laughs, enjoyable music, and the acting was not bad. But as the film closed I was left with a blank face... the bad blank face not the good one.If I were to describe this film in one word, I would say that it is a collage- a pure collage of everything; styles, genres, stories, acting, music. There is everything in it, but I'm not sure if this is necessarily good. I felt at the end that Nadine Labaki had a lot to say and wanted to say them all at the same time. I do not blame her, since making cinema in this part of the world is very difficult, a filmmaker feels that he/she has a lot to say in so few ways.But the essential problem for me in this film was the topic; the epic Christian-Muslim battle in Lebanese culture. Seriously, is this the biggest problem in Lebanon? Is this even the core of all problems? I seriously doubt that, rather I think it is the thing that the world would like to see about Lebanon; an exotic Kusturica-style village with the 'typical' Lebanese strife. For me the problem that we need to talk about is much bigger than that and goes down to the core of this whole nation's existence and the attitude of it's people. But again opinions differ as always.And then there is Lysistrata, again another unconfessed adaptation mixed with unconfessed homages to directors, scenes, styles...There is no doubt that Nadine Labake has surely been one of the pillars of globalizing Lebanese cinema, and that is a very good thing- the world now knows (more or less) that there is a country called Lebanon and it has tiny little filmmakers in it... but is this the Lebanon we live in? Does this struggle, this human emotion captured in "Where Do We Go Now?" echo the struggle we are living in this broken country?

Diane and I saw this delightful film several days ago and its memory is as sharp now as then. The Director manages to put a rounded point on the sharp knives of the sectarian oriented men of the village and how she does this remarkable feat sums up the entire film. The director sites the film in an extraordinarily remote small village in strife torn Lebanon, I believe, to emphasize that these villagers are on their own with little outside influence to taint the purity of their own sectarian struggle; there are no outsiders to stir the pot, so to speak. I believe that this is critical to the film's blossoming in that the isolation reinforces the purity of the sequence of the unfolding events.After reading many of the Lebanese comments I cannot subscribe to the negative judgments of some of them. Obviously, as an outsider, I cannot judge the veracity of these negative comments but after viewing the film and reading the positive reader comments I must believe those people. See the movie and judge for yourself; it is a film from the heart and a, to me, believable insight into a country that has garnered much news space but little understanding.

This is a beautifully executed story that will get you angry, sad, confused, enlightened and amused as it unfolds before you. This is the story of a small community barely keeping itself together, surrounded as it is by violent conflicts between opposing religious groups. Here though, the religious leaders are in unison with the women - they do not want to see any inter-religious strife. They do not want to witness any more deaths amongst the young men. The cemetery is full of the bodies of the village's youth and tended by the weeping women who's hopes and dreams for the future are prematurely ended by the deaths of their sons. With slightly inept determination the women decide to take matters into their own hands. They achieve an unsteady truce but at least life goes on. Hope is given a second chance. A lovely, heart warming film.