Newly restored, Ghassan Salhab’s 1998 debut feature film, Phantom Beirut (Ashbah Beyrouth) is a fascinating, and masterfully understated story of life amidst the dying embers of the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990). After a year mired in global conflicts, a more fitting opening film for this year’s Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival is hard to imagine.
Salhab’s tale revolves around Khalil (Aouni Kawas), newly returned to Beirut having faked his death a decade or so earlier. Far from rejoicing, his former associates, friends, and comrades’ reactions vary between suspicion, discomfort, and quiet, existential crisis. About them, the war may be ebbing towards a close, but the city still thrums to a mix of everyday life, gunfire, and semi-regular explosions.
Despite the dramatic set-up, there’s no melodrama, these residents of Beirut likely too emotionally exhausted from years of existential threat to indulge in the theatrical. Salhab sets Khalil amongst these wearied pigeons, and we see what happens – so long as the electricity holds out to keep the lights on.
“…a remarkably interesting, and masterfully understated story…”
One trio do attempt a little sleuthing, suspicious of Khalil’s motives, and involvement in some vanishing cash before his ‘death’. However, even their anger at his deception and conflict-dodging is soon exhausted, leaving the inscrutable revenant to wander the scarred city in his rental car. Why he has returned, and what he wants, other than an active passport is left unclear.
His former partner, and press photographer, played by Darina El Joundi, initially balks, shocked by his resurrection. She, like his other acquaintances finds herself thrown back through a decade of life-changing trauma, revisiting who she was, and staring at who she is now. Understandably unwilling to spend much time rehashing the past, her ire fades into a quiet companionship fuelled by curiosity.
Salhab, a young man indeed when Phantom Beirut was made, deftly intersperses the movie with snippets of genuine conversation with the cast. Painful though these tiny memoirs are, there’s sufficient honesty to acknowledge the uneasy mix of horror, trauma, and nostalgia survivors are so often left with.
“…the film’s blend of documentary and almost meditative drama will leave a lasting memory on many who see it.”
Completing the film’s virtues is a pervasive, and doughty sense of humour. The machinations of the local Mr ‘Fix It’ are fraught, to say the least, whilst Kawas’ deadpan presence makes a straight man for every occasion. Phantom Beirut is certainly no comedy, but this rejection of solemnity only enhances its humanity. At 121 minutes, however, the film is a tad long, indulging in a tad too much inaction from time to time. However, the hooks back into Khalil’s fate are probably strong enough to prevent fatal disengagement.
Ultimately the film’s blend of documentary and almost meditative drama will leave a lasting memory on many who see it. Whether it’s watching explosions rock the city from an otherwise idyllic beach, or the frank gazes of actors turned verbatim confessors, Ghassan Salhabs’s debut retains its power these many years later.
Featured Image: Stills provided by the Artists via BFMAF.
Phantom Beirut (Ashbah Beyrouth) is distributed by Tania El Khoury, Films Delaltai.
Film Details
Viewed at: BFMAF 2024 – The Maltings, Berwick-upon-Tweed
When: 7th Match 2024
Film Year: 1998
Age Rating: 15
Running Time: 121 minutes
Accessibility
- Wheelchair Accessible Venue
- Wheelchair Accessible Toilet
- Audio Enhancement System
By
