Hot 888 Mama . . . exactly how UNDER THE BOMBS is a fair and balanced film that has a right to be exhibited in United States movie theaters, as opposed to pure hate speech propaganda from the folks who brought us 9-11, akin to the Neo-Nazi hate speech universally banned by all proper-thinking civilized countries. The one funeral scene shown in UNDER THE BOMBS actually is an anti-American hate rally, complete with chants of "Death to American, death to the Great Satan." It has been widely publicized by the world's most respected news organizations, such as 60 MINUTES, that 83% of the curriculum the alleged children victims being depicted in UNDER THE BOMBS consists of instilling a life-long hatred of Jews and Americans, which occasionally manifests itself in the form of kids younger than the dead ones in this movie (HOW they actually died--for instance, an anti-aircraft round falling short and hitting an ammo dump in a school gymnasium, one of the most likely possibilities TOTALLY IGNORED by director Philippe Aractingi) fatally ambushing peacekeepers on the border. Aractingi spends his entire film trying to make people such as Vanessa Redgrave feel sorry for what folks living in the Dark Ages apparently are inviting upon themselves in the most desperate ways (fueled by one of the world's highest birthrates, to support Pyrrhic "victories" based on tactics similar to those used by army ants). Unfortunately, a significant number of Oscar Awards voters and Hollywood fifth columnists insist on dragging Trojan horses such as UNDER THE BOMBS within the walls of Fortress America.

secondtake Under the Bombs (2007)I can picture this being required viewing for anyone wanting a view of the kind of back and forth fighting between Israel and its many unfriendly neighbors. The devastation from superior Israeli firepower is horrifying. And you can see better the anger that ordinary Lebanese citizens--Muslim and Christian both--have toward the apparently insensitive Israelis.The way this is unfolded is a convergence of two kinds of victims of the violence--a mother looking for her child and a taxi driver who she hires to take her around. In the searching we see all of Southern Lebanon's worst destruction--the real thing, shot on site--and we feel the frustration and hatred in all the people at the situation. We also see that it comes down to coping, as well, with a sense of resignation, that it's all out of their reach, even if the bombs reach them all too easily.So, you'll cry and be in ruins yourself if you let yourself be absorbed. There is eventually going to be a sense that the movie plays the same chords for too long. The search keeps taking new turns, but the rubble, the anger, and sorry, the frustration, and even the relationship between the leads stays relatively the same. It's only in this last respect--a highly unlikely meeting of minds and hearts between to very different classes of people--that there is some evolution.And the search, of course, has a kind of resolution that is sudden and a bit surprising. There are moments of movie drama along the way (the car stalls at the worst possible time, of course, and that kind of thing), but mostly it's about being transported to this very real war torn place using modern cinematography. The acting is intensely strong, and the basic story line heart wrenching.Yes, see it, for those aspects that are overwhelming and necessary to understand as much as possible.

Baron Ronan Doyle A film which attempts to draw focus to the civilian side of the ongoing Israel-Lebanon conflict, Sous les Bombes has received commendation for its gritty socio-political commentary. The film employs real footage of the country's devastation in the wake of the 2006 bombing, adding a realistic edge and real-world feeling.The film is the story of a desperate mother searching for her son and sister in war-torn Lebanon. With everybody fleeing North, she can find only one taxi who will take her South to find her incontactable family.Sous les Bombes has one major problem which, for me, made the film almost unbearable at times. Quite simply, it's the wrong medium. This film should be a documentary. The story is insufficiently captivating to negate this feeling and we are subsequently force-fed in an intolerably aggravating manner the director's opinions, disguised as a piece of fiction. There are two scenes which feature our heroine hitting her head repeatedly off the cab window in infuriated frustration, and I really did feel like it was my head being smacked against the glass. Over and over and over again, the characters discuss in a monotonous and relentless way the travesties of war. Now, of course these things are terrible, and the film does make something of an impact in showing us the destruction in these images, but the very fact that this is not a documentary is hard to believe at times. "Our families are gone, this is terrible, I have no home" is a line heard in different words far too many times for the viewer to keep from ripping every follicle from his head. And the painfully overstated opinions of the film are echoed in the predictable and entirely unsurprising ending. I was completely frustrated for the entire thing.Make no mistake about it, Sous les Bombes carries an important message, but would some subtlety hurt? The plot is tossed aside in order to shove a morality tale down our throats, and the sexually suspect taxi driver comes across as a lazy afterthought. Perhaps even the director realised the film's inherent flaws and made a last ditch effort to spice up the story. In the end, it bears no memorability, and is just plain offensive. Someone please tell Philippe Aractingi to make a documentary next time.End note: The central performance, though even itself irritating at times, earns the film some respect. Thank you Nada Abou Farhat.

laminee This is a really good film. And due to the fact that it was shot during the actual crisis gives it a documentary feel. Complimented with that is the superb acting of the lead characters. It's like real life unfolding on screen - the rampant destruction, needless pains & senseless atrocities of the war. The rustic music also suits the storyline perfectly.A couple sequences though didn't quite fit into the flow of the story: - the sex scene seemed unnecessary and the breaking down of the car at the very end seemed like a little forced upon melodrama.Would recommend this movie to anyone who is in a mood to find out how the Middle East politico-religious crisis affects a common citizen.