The movie “What Is Home” was originally called “Capernaum”, based on the true story of Lebanon. Capernaum was originally the place where Jesus began preaching in the Bible. It is located near the Sea of Galilee in Israel today, but it is now in ruins due to the war.
The beginning of the film. In the court, the skinny Zane stood in the plaintiff’s bench, his eyes down. The judge asked him, “Why are you standing here today?” Zane: “I want to sue my parents because they gave birth to me.”
Following Zane’s narration, the camera moved to a slum in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, where Zane and his parents, siblings, and seven people crowded in a dilapidated attic. The parents are refugees from Syria, do not have a job, and can only make a living by doing speculation. Therefore, Zane, who was only 12 years old, showed maturity beyond his peers. He makes money everywhere, takes care of his younger siblings, and handles housework. But even so, he was abused and beaten by his parents from time to time.
The most distressing thing is that at a young age, Zane can see at a glance that the landlord’s son Assad is “badhearted” towards his sister Saha. He discovered that his sister Saha had menarche, and he took his sister to the public toilet like a mother, washing her underwear while keeping her secret, because here the girl has menarche, and she can marry. Now Assad Always coveting her, the cruel parents will definitely marry his sister to him in exchange for rent. Zane also stole sanitary napkins for her sister and asked her to use them secretly. Then he began to plan to help his sister escape and stay away from the “fire pit” that was coming soon. However, it was still too late. Zane’s parents discovered and forcibly sent his sister to Assad’s house in exchange for the temporary residence right of the house.
The heartbroken Zane ran away from home. He looked for work everywhere, and no one wanted him. Until Rahill the cleaning lady took him in. Rahir is a refugee from Ethiopia with an illegitimate son Yunus. Zane is responsible for helping her son at work. Here, Zane felt the warmth from family for the first time.
However, the good times didn’t last long. Rahill was put in jail because he did not have an identity certificate, and Zane was forced to take Yunus on a wandering journey. In the end, because Zane really couldn’t support Yunus, he could only be handed over to an intermediary who looked like a good person and asked him to help find a good person.
Zane returned home, hoping to get his identity certificate and fled abroad, but found that he also had no identity certificate. And the last straw that crushed him is not only that, he found that his sister Saha died of a miscarriage because the hospital refused to treat her because she had no identity certificate. The desperate Zane rushed out of the house and stabbed his sister’s husband Assad with a knife, for which he was sentenced to five years in prison.
After Zane was imprisoned, his mother came to visit him and told him that he was going to be “brother” again. Zane was desperate. He contacted reporters and lawyers to sue his parents. So the scene returned to the court where the film started, and he shouted angrily: “I hope adults listen to me, I hope people who are unable to raise children don’t have another life. I only remember violence, insults, and beatings. This passage is like A heavy slap hit Zane’s parents in the face.
As the plot progresses, the audience will find that all the homeless people in the film have one thing in common-they are all refugees without status. “Identity” is the dark cloud covering everyone’s head, the root of all suffering. The reason why they have no identity is because they have no motherland, and they are a group of refugees. The harm caused by the war alluded to behind all this is self-evident.
“Why Home” still gives people some comfort at the end: Rachel has found his long-lost son, and Mason, a refugee friend Zane knew when he was wandering, is going to Sweden with his parents. The most gratifying thing is the film. After filming the movie, the actor of Zhong Zane has also immigrated to Norway with his family with the help of the director. Now he is like a sunny and cheerful little guy… I hope there will always be, as long as we have expectations.
