Sleepless Nights ( documentary dir.Eliane Raheb)
Through the stories of Assaad Shaftari, a former high ranking intelligence officer in a Christian right wing militia, responsible for many casualties in the protracted civil war in Lebanon and Maryam Saiidi, the mother of Maher, a missing young communist fighter who disappeared in 1982, the film digs in the war wounds and asks if redemption and forgiveness are possible.
One of the scenes shows bits of the process from when Assaad Shaftari was taking a Clown Me In workshop.
Naturally, we (Gabriela Munoz and myself- Sabine Choucair) were so thrilled to have someone like Assaad Shaftari going through the workshop. Moreover, we were very happy to have been involved in such an important movie like "Sleepless Nights".
I have been reading and hearing lots of controversial reactions toward this scene. ( mostly extreme ones)
Through the stories of Assaad Shaftari, a former high ranking intelligence officer in a Christian right wing militia, responsible for many casualties in the protracted civil war in Lebanon and Maryam Saiidi, the mother of Maher, a missing young communist fighter who disappeared in 1982, the film digs in the war wounds and asks if redemption and forgiveness are possible.
One of the scenes shows bits of the process from when Assaad Shaftari was taking a Clown Me In workshop.
Naturally, we (Gabriela Munoz and myself- Sabine Choucair) were so thrilled to have someone like Assaad Shaftari going through the workshop. Moreover, we were very happy to have been involved in such an important movie like "Sleepless Nights".
I have been reading and hearing lots of controversial reactions toward this scene. ( mostly extreme ones)
Below some bits and pieces from different articles. Would love to hear your thoughts in case you've watched the movie.
And
if you haven't yet, it is still showing in Lebanon @Metropolis Empire
Sofil, Achrafieh, at 4:30 pm, 7:15pm and 10:00pm ( until the 30th of
October)
Shattuck Cinemas (Berkeley)
Oct. 26, 2013 2:30 pm
Oct. 26, 2013 2:30 pm
bits and pieces:
"في الفيلم مشهد يلعب فيه أسعد الشفتري دور المهرج، كل من يشاهد الفيلم
سيصاب بنوبة محددة أثناء مشاهدته ربما ضحك وربما بكاء، وربما سترتسم على
وجهه ضحكة والدموع تنهمر. مشهد المهرج يحملنا الى العلاقة الجدلية بين
الأمل والمسامحة الذاتية وعلاقة الآخرين وموقفهم من الجريمة. ظهر في عيون
أسعد أنه لم يسامح نفسه، يقول ابنه في أحد المشاهد ” لازم يخفف اعتذارات “.
ربما هو لن يتوقف عن الاعتذار لأنه لم يعترف بكل الأخطاء بعد. "
http://chafak.wordpress.com
"In the film, Assaad Chaftari plays the role of a clown. While watching this scene you will surely feel something extreme, you might laugh or cry, and maybe smile and cry at the same time. This clown scene leads us to the dialectical relationship between hope and self-forgiveness and the relationship with others. we could see in the eyes of Chaftari that he did not forgive himself. His son says in one of the scenes: " he should apologize less". Maybe Chaftari won't stop apologizing because he did not confess all his sins yet".
"قالت لي سيدة صديقة بعد العرض أنها لم تجد مبرّرا لمشهد تمثيل أسعد الشفتري
دورَ "المهرّج" كما لو أنه خرج عن موقعه في فيلم وثائقي. أنا كان رأيي
العكس تماما. لقد بدا المشهد أحد أقوى عناصر الفيلم وأكثرِها إبداعاً. إنْ
لم يكن أقواها. كان هذا المشهد، الذي أدّاه الشفتري بنجاح، التعبيرَ -
الذروةَ عن المسافة الشاسعة عن نفسه التي استطاع تحقيقها. كانت قدرة مفاجئة
على التهكّم على نفسه. التهريج بمعنى المعاقبة الشديدة للنفس. وبهذا كانت
لحظةَ قوّةٍ للفيلم ولأسعد الشفتري لا لحظة خِفّة... غيرُ التوثيقيِّ أي
المتخيَّلُ يؤكّد قوّةَ التوثيقي أي الواقعي. أكاد أجزم: يؤكّد صحة
التوثيقي." جهاد الزين- جريدة النهار
"A lady friend told me that she did not find any justification for the scene where Assaad plays the role of a clown, as if he came out of his position in a documentary film . I had the exact opposite opinion. The scene was one of the strongest and most creative parts of the film. This was the scene where Chaftari alienated from himself. He had this great capacity of ridiculing himself. Clowning in the sense of self punishment and for that this was a moment of strength etc..." Jihad El Zein, Annahar newspaper
"A lady friend told me that she did not find any justification for the scene where Assaad plays the role of a clown, as if he came out of his position in a documentary film . I had the exact opposite opinion. The scene was one of the strongest and most creative parts of the film. This was the scene where Chaftari alienated from himself. He had this great capacity of ridiculing himself. Clowning in the sense of self punishment and for that this was a moment of strength etc..." Jihad El Zein, Annahar newspaper
"In other places, the film appears to fragment its images for the sake of
style. It veers into outright surrealism late, when Abbas is shown
acting as a clown during a therapy session. The filmmakers think this is
important enough to title this section of the film, "The Clown," but I
found it digressive and mannered, a quality that it transfers to the
overall film itself. It tends to recast Abass's participation in the
reconciliation process as a farce, though that's admittedly the point.
These kinds of arty excrescences are an encumbrance on a film that is
probably too long." krelllabs.blogspot.com
"In one morbidly hilarious and satisfying scene Saiidi bitingly dismiss
the psychobabble of a therapist blithely sweeping matters under the rug;
in another, Shaftari performs as a clown in a theater exercise. These
are “scenes” in the sense that Raheb is constantly searching for new
twists and turns on engaging with and reconsidering the past. " Nicolas Rapold, filmcomment.com
"Sleepless Nights spins to an almost surreal
final act, as the performative aspects of cultural “remembrance” are
shown in clown shows and cheesy songs." Robert Greene, Hammer To Nail.com
"Raheb supplements the film’s emotional palette with sparks of humor –
often in the wry observations of Shaftari’s wife and son – and a
peculiar moment near the end of the film when the retired assassin is
shown performing during a clowning workshop, red nose and all." Jim Quilty, The Daily Star
في أحد المشاهد الختامية، تتبع المخرجة الشفتري في جلسة علاجية يتحوّل فيها الى مهرّج، ونراه للمرة الاولى في وجه مختلف. ساندرا الخوري Albaladonline
In
one of the final scenes, the director follows Chaftari to a therapy
session where he becomes a clown, and for once, we see a different face
of him. Sandra El Khoury, Al Balad Online newspaper