Labaki's Ou Hala La Wein: Form without content?

Is it finally here? The film that will get the international recognition that Lebanon has been waiting for? Ou Hala La Wein (Where Do We Go Now) has it all. It's got a rustic feel with a modern look. It's got an excellent cast, who can also sing. It's got drama and tragedy, with some pretty witty comedy. It touches upon, but never really gets into, a war that baffled many, enough to intrigue but not too much so as to take away from the drama. It's directed by a strong, confident, young woman who can also perform. I can't imagine how this film could possibly go unrecognized.

Before I get into the core of the subject, I'd like to get this out of the way. In her new film, Nadine Labaki falls into two traps:

1. She lets her ego get the better of her. This becomes clear as soon as you realize that she is the only love interest in the film, in a romantic entanglement that is completely unnecessary for the plot. I am also convinced that she had a hand in casting the 4 supposedly hot Russians (but sooo not) to make sure that she remains the most physically appealing woman in the film. Of course that plan goes out the window as soon as the gorgeous Fatmeh (Anjo Rihane) removes her veil.
2. And this can also apply to a lesser extent to her previous film, Caramel: Labaki is never sure what kind of film she's making. I can live with tragedy mixed with some comedy, but sprinkling 3 songs along the way, one of which is an upbeat song about hashish and drugs right after the most tragic scene in the film, just doesn't make any sense to me. Why do Labaki's characters burst into song only once or twice during the film? What exactly is she trying to do? A little bit of everything perhaps?

Now I've heard a lot of talk about how simplistic and stereotypical the film is, how it portrayed men and women as two groups, the former bloody thirsty testosterone-filled and the latter manipulative but peace loving. But I completely disagree with this view. I don't think that Labaki was trying to make a movie about the men and women of Lebanon and how they deal with difficult times. Nor was she trying to tell a story of how war starts and how it can be stopped. Ou Hala La Wein is about women who know what it means to lose something more important than themselves. The dedication at the end says it all: "To our mothers", the unsung heroes of the war. It's a day dream about a village where the mothers have the last say, where they never again have to lose a single loved one to mindless violence, for nothing. Is it real? Of course it isn't. Is it well thought out social commentary? I don't believe that it is. But I enjoyed the film and loved every single female character in there.

So the question remains: Is Nadine Labaki trying to fool us with form without content? An abstraction without depth? Maybe. But then again so is Lebanon, with its fake politics, democracy and freedom, representing nothing but the desires of the external forces that move them. Nadine's film may be a little shallow, but so are our differences.