A partly humorous, mostly dramatic account of a coming-of-age ritual that feels more like an act of sexual abuse, Death of a Virgin and the Sin of Not Living (Aa Amal Tiji) sees a quartet of nervous boys from northern Lebanon on their way to visit a sex worker for the first time. It’s a traumatic event that may be read, by some symbolically minded viewers, as a wide-ranging metaphor for the struggles and anguish of the Lebanese people as a whole. In any case, this deeply felt and thought-out first film by the talented Argentinian-Lebanese filmmaker George Peter Barbari is out of the ordinary in many ways and an exciting new turn for regional cinema both in its frankness and style.
Surfing the festival circuit since Berlin, it has already picked up multiple awards. Its appearance in Cairo’s International Panorama is especially significant in showing how far local audiences have come in accepting direct and sophisticated sexual content. The story is told partly through disembodied monologues that not only reveal the feelings the boys are trying to hide from each other, but even their future on earth and when and how their lives will end.
The point of view character is Etienne (Etienne Assal), a muscular, good-looking youth who lives with his doting mother. His father died in an airplane crash and we are told how deeply it affected his mother, but it must have had a big effect on Etienne, too. He has grown into a sensitive young man who writes poetry in secret.
Though there are indications that the boys are supposed to be teenagers, Barbari rehearsed his non-pro actors for three years while putting the film’s financing together, and they all look incongruously old to be virgins. Or maybe that’s part of the film’s jarring reality check that makes the viewer take a second look and a second think about the psychological state of these boy-men.
Etienne, we are told by the all-knowing narrative voice, has one of the rosier destinies ahead of him, and his serious approach to the adventure at hand makes us understand why. His friends aren’t deep thinkers; they’re happy-go-lucky types out for a good time, always clowning and horsing around. HIs best friend Adnan (Adnan Khabbaz) has already been taken to a prostitute by his uncle, and now he is introducing his three buddies to the joys of manhood. They have pooled their meager resources and rowdily jump on a bus to their rendezvous. But in place of the eager vibes one would expect, here the boys seem petrified, hiding their fears behind brave words, bullying, and macho posturing. In a scene memorable for its casual cruelty, their brief meeting with an ice cream vendor who exhibits his gayness is met with homophobic insults by the loud-mouthed Jean Paul (Jean Paul Franjieh). His brash self-confidence and sense of entitlement make him detestable. Completing the foursome is Dankoura (Elie Saad), a boy from the working class who is a little more restrained.
After a rambunctious bus ride, they reach an off-road hotel, where the power games begin. The madam (Souraya Baghdadi) informs them that their appointments are delayed while they wait for “Christelle” to arrive. When a thin Syrian girl (Feyrouz AbouHassan) finally shows up, she is near tears and has to be bullied by the madam into having sex with the boys (ironically, she looks about their age).
Etienne’s half-hour encounter with her is the film’s centerpiece and its dramatic culmination. In a moving voice-over he describes how he feels “scared and confused” because “I saw her as a woman” – i.e., as a human being and not an object of commerce to be judged and despised. It will be an experience of awakening for him, but not a pleasant one. The whole scene is shot modestly in a darkened room with the curtains drawn by D.P. Karim Ghorayeb. The camera is kept mainly on their faces, yet the voice-over gives these moments the poignant intensity of a life-changing experience.
The film is shot in carefully composed long takes which provide structure to the almost casual chain of events. The main actors are all notable for the forceful naturalness they bring to their roles, particularly Assal as the sensitive leading man.
Director, screenplay: George Peter Barbari
Cast: Etienne Assal, Adnan Khabbaz, Jean Paul Franjieh, Elie Saad, Souraya Baghdadi, Feyrouz AbouHassan, Maria Doueihi, Windy Ishak, Rayan Assaf
Producers: Christelle Younes, Reine Jihad Semaan, George Peter Barbari
Executive producers: Reine Jihad Semaan, Christelle Younes
Cinematography: Karim Ghorayeb
Production design: Charbel Zgheib
Editing: George Peter Barbari, Inaam Attar
Music: Fadi Tabbal
Production companies: Bee on Set Productions (Lebanon)
World sales: Festival Agency (France)
Venue: Cairo Film Festival (International Panorama)
In Arabic
87 minutes
