September 24, 2011 — thejrexpress
W Hala2 La Wein (Where Do We Go Now ?) (2011) – Nadine Labaki
There are a lot of really good Lebanese movies, or at least that I liked, as West Beirut, Bosta or Caramel but this one is the best I’ve seen till now! W Hala2 La Wein (In English: Where Do We Go Now / In French: Et Maintenant, On Va Ou?) directed by Nadine Labaki is about an unnamed village where both Christians and Muslims live together and where a Church and a Mosque share the same piece of land. All the people in the village lived happily together far away from all the sectarians problems until some events happened and this is the driver of the movie. [I am not going to say more about the plot of the movie to avoid spoilers for those who are reading the review before watching the movie]
I would like first to say that I was amazed by Nadine Labaki for her acting skills but, specially for her role as a Director and Writer for this movie. This movie mix comedy and drama to open the eyes of the audience on the sectarian problems between Christian and Muslims specially in Lebanon where coexistence would solve a lot of problems the country is facing. While watching the movie you will go from laughter to sadness and emotions. However, what makes also this movie amazing, is that you feel like you are part of this village, as if you were on of those people living there: There are no barriers between you and the movie.
This movie is really amazing and it is a proof of how great Lebanese cinematography can be ! It is a movie that everyone should see: First of all, for the cinematographic part and second to wake up and realize how important are the sectarian problems (whether it is Christians-Muslims or any other religions) and feel like we should take action and work on coexistence.
Of course you will enjoy more the movie if you are Lebanese because you identify yourself with the movie characters and also because you will laugh at the Lebanese funny side of the movie like the language, the stereotypes, the reactions… This does not mean that only Lebanese people would enjoy the movie, as I said in the last paragraph “It is a movie that everyone should see”. The proof of that, is the fact that W Hala2 La Wein (Where Do We Go Now) won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival. I would like to quote this from a Toronto.com article :
“The Cadillac People’s Choice award, which also includes a C$15,000 cash prize, is voted on by festival audiences and has typically been regarded as a bellwether for Oscar success.”
I should note also that I really liked the music composed by Khaled Mouzannar (Nadine’s Husband) with very nice, poetic and meaningful lyrics written by Tania Saleh.
Another important topic of this movie is the role of women and specially mothers. Labaki who is known to be a feminist person (You can also feel that from her previous movie Caramel) dedicated this movie to all the mothers and gave the most important role to the women of this village who are all mothers. [I won’t say more also to avoid spoilers]
What if our world was run by mothers ?
Please feel free to give me your comments about this last question, my review and the movie 🙂
Here is the trailer:
Join the conversation! 30 Comments
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The JR Express 
I’m dying to watch this movie !
Thanks jado for your review.
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You should watch it as soon as you as possible because I am sure you will like it 🙂
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I need to get my hands on a copy of this! I live in Canada and even though it premiered at the Toronto film festival, I have NO idea when and if it will show in theaters. I really loved Caramel as well and I saw the trailer of Hala2 la Wein by accident and hear very positive reaction to it. I’m a film student and I’m actually taking a course on world cinema right now and thought it would be an amazing idea if I could write about this film for my final paper…. except I actually need to see it :P!!! if ANYONE can help, it’s be very appreciated!
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Juv, I am sure that this movie will be great to use for your World Cinema course 🙂 However, I don’t seem to find any info about a release date for Canada. I personally think that it will be out in Canada later this year.
I’ll let you know as soon as I know something about that and maybe someone reading this know more about this and will be able to help you 🙂
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it’s playing in toronto halla
http://www.google.ca/movies?hl=en&near=toronto&dq=where+do+we+go+now+showtimes+toronto&sort=1&mid=e7a8d2aa9485d420&sa=X&ei=G5fZT9vcNoeg6QGA5MjLAg&ved=0CCQQwAMoBA
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Great movie, but Caramel is zero mistakes ….
Your comments r absolutely very correct, ur question, it’s not about who rules the world, its about Who should rule lebanon, kel el world bi mel w lebnen bi mel! Men of the movie r the typical Lebanese men who since the 70s haven’t changed ……and at any time this can start again ….. This is how their fathers brought them up ! While when the mother in the movie was the head of the family she knew how to keep him home avoiding a disaster !
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thiss movieeeeee issss greatt i can watch like 100000 times if i can :D:D it’s a must see movie:)
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This article summarizes well how I felt/ what I thought after I watched this movie.
I even feel like watching again!
Good job :]
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Thanks 🙂 Glad you liked the article !
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i’m from Palestine and i want to watch it ! is there any link to watch it online ! help people !
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Hi Ameer, I asked about release dates for Palestine on Nadine Labaki’s Facebook Page and the admin replied by saying that they will update us about the dates. I’ll let you know as soon as I have any additional info 🙂
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thank you alot my friend ! 🙂
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excellent moovie, i saw it and advice you to see it
I agree with Noor, This article summarizes well what you can feel and touch.
i would like to add also that The actors of the moovie are not professional actors, each one have his own life far from acting in moovies, and you can see their skills, they are really excellent.
We can also notice the beautifill voice of Carole Samaha singing.
I wish that, one day, our world will be run by mothers, i think they will act as they did in this village, …
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Does anyone know anything abt the release date for egypt? I saw this in Geneva, but I’m dying to go see it again with my family here. Also I think it’s a very timely and relevant message that everyone here should see right around now!
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Release date for Egypt: November 10, 2011 🙂
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w for that who lives in riyadh, how they can watch it?
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Hello Firas, sorry for getting back to you late but I was waiting for an official answer from Nadine Labki’s official sources… Unfortunately there’s no release in Riyadh.
Check my conversation with Nadine’s team on her Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/LabakiNadine/posts/203827126358201?ref=notif¬if_t=feed_comment
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amazing movie!! Nadine really is an exceptional personal check out who does her makeup
http://halaajam.wordpress.com/2011/11/24/nadine-labaki-by-hala-ajam/
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bi3a2id bi kill basata !
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plz i need to know where i can watch this movie in which cinema ?
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Hello Jad, can you please tell me in which country you live so I can give you the theater release date for this movie in your country?
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What about qatar ? anytime soon ?
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Apparently it was already released in Qatar back in November 2011.
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How about London?
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June 22nd 🙂
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Fantastic.. Where? Can’t wait!!
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They haven’t specified yet.
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[…] W Hala2 La Wein (Where Do We Go Now ?) (2011) – Nadine Labaki […]
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I’ve watched it like a zillion times and I still love it….it’s amaziiiinnngggg,love the thing in all it’s aspects,
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[…] W Hala2 La Wein (Where Do We Go Now ?) (2011) – Nadine Labaki […]
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