Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Salubfoto It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

rogerdarlington The DVD of this Arabic-language film was given to me by a British friend working in Beirut shortly after my visit to the city. It is set in Muslim side of Beirut at the beginning of the civil war in 1975 and it was written and directed by Lebanese-born 36-year-old Ziad Doueiri who worked as a cameraman on three of Quentin Tarantino's films.In many ways, it is a very personal work: the central character, the teenage Tarik, is played by the director's young brother Rami and Rami's educated parents are loosely based on his own. In other ways, it has more universal themes, since it is a rite of passage movie that portrays the loss of casual innocence, accentuated by the experience of conflict - much like the British "Hope And Glory" which was one inspiration."West Beirut" is both emotional and amusing and it full of wonderful characters, but it probably helps appreciation of the film to know something of Lebanon's factional and fratricidal politics and the ending is rather abrupt and down-beat.

Sinem Kalkavan "West Beirut".. Thanks to my Lebanese friends that I met in the U.S.A (both Christians and Muslims as they identify themselves before indicating their national identities), I had a pretty good information about civil war, religious&ethnic conflicts, Lebanon's political&economic relations with other countries.. For the ones who don't have knowledge about civil war, will be lost in this movie. Because in the movie, history of Lebanon or Beirut at least, is not narrated.. Relations between different religious and ethnic groups, and relations of Lebanon with other countries are not informed.. So who supports whom, who fights against whom and why..not informative.. Well, I saw images of bombings, how a beautiful city is being destroyed, how much Lebanese people are suffering, going thru trauma etc.. How citizens of Lebanon are facing that meaningless west\east division.. As we see, Tarek, Omar and May show how different sects can get along with each other as long as they are not fanatics (fanaticism kills the human soul)!!, this is not only in the movie, but in the real life too.. For example, in the beginning of the movie, when Tarek is having a conservation with that bread-maker, that old man tells Tarek that, if someone asks your religion, tell him I am LEBANESE! and send him to me.. This is the main message of the movie. Well, for a nation to be united, national identity should come first, then may come religious identity. That should to be kept in all Lebanese people's minds, and never to be forgotten! "West Beirut" brings individual lives in war time on the scene reflecting the mistakes that human beings do all the time.. we all do not get lessons and repeat the history, but we have to change this, should take a new direction.. Hope to watch more movies showing how dirty and interest-oriented such wars are.. Smiling faces versus hopeless and fearful gazes.. A life in peace versus a future with pre-war tensions, war and post-war traumatic disorders .. Let us all pick one..

wakid_y i would never believe, how is the way Bayrouth was before the 1975s civil war, just when i saw this movie with couple of friends i just recognize the fortune in beside living.. this movie if full of information in beside the incredible actors. i really admit this is the best Arabian movie i ever seen. the motion of the wide civilization of the Mediterranean nation may become over the history pages, many information may disappear by time, this movie West Bayrouth supposed to re-inform the watchers of the tiny covers of the history whom frayed and frazzled by the recent conflicts. i advice to see the film! Just consecrate

CullenCooks Thank God for IFC and the Sundance Channel here in the U.S. Without these two channels, there are so many films that I otherwise would never have known about less alone actually watched: especially living in the heart of Los Angeles, Studio Capital of the World. I was lucky enough though to stumble upon West Beirut and I just fell in love with it. Somebody in the user comments section said that it was "a very beautiful and funny film if you are arabic", but I'd have to strongly disagree because as a westerner and and an american I found it perhaps even more funny and beautiful as a result of where I come from. Not to get into politics, but it's kind of hard not to, it is so refreshing and wonderful and eye opening to see a film with arab characters in their homeland living their lives the way they really did and would instead of only knowing that part of the world from the violence that is constantly strewn about on the evening news and the constant 'propaganda machine' of american media which seems to be totally controlled and run nowadays by corporations and pharmaceutical companies. This movie, for me, just reinforced the idea that we are all alike no matter where we live on this planet and I find it sad to think that the only way I have to find out and appreciate a history lesson on Beirut or the life of the lebanese is through a film. Being an american, if you listen to our government at all, it would be a really bad idea to travel to the middle east. And so without films like this, it would be impossible for me to experience the oneness of all of us or a glimpse of a country and it's culture. What a beautiful idea it would be to cut out the Bush administration and all the other governments for a month out of the year and allow everyone from each country to go and look at the other side. I think we'd all benefit strongly. Until then, I'll thank movies like West Beirut for being made and allowing me the luxury of being part of another world for a couple of hours.A great film.