“A film that is an easy watch, with many courageous cinematic moves.”

For those who love world cinema with a particular fondness for films from the MENA region, Danielle Arbid’s latest, the Berlinale Panorama opener Only Rebels Win, seemed like a dream come true. On paper, the story of a lonely Palestinian widow (played by the divine Hiam Abbass) who falls in love with a younger Sudanese man in Beirut to the dismay of her family and friends as well as her nosy neighbors, looked to be a potential personal favorite coming out of Berlin. Plus it is sprinkled with an assortment of cameo appearances by a who’s-who of filmmakers and stars of Arab cinema. But while it does completely achieve its goal, to shock audiences by presenting us with several taboos (one of which is certain to hit the spot for a variety of people), it falls short on feelings. Those kinds of feelings that should have been guaranteed with a phenomenal actress like Abbass as the film’s protagonist.

Only Rebels Win kicks off with Abbass’s character Suzanne fending off a group of thugs who are attacking a young African man on the streets of Beirut. She takes him back to her small but cozy apartment to care for his wounds, and we find out that his name is Osmane; he’s Sudanese and tells Suzanne the thugs owed him money from his legally earned wages. According to him, they are also holding on to his documents and papers. Played by Amine Benrachid — himself a Sudanese-Chadian who studied acting at the École Kourtrajmé founded by filmmaker Ladj Ly — Osmane is lithe, silent and kind. It is not completely incomprehensible that these two lonely souls would manage to fall in love with, or at least come to like each other, and find within their embraces a new reason for living. 

The production was shot entirely using rear projection, an opening message informs us, a necessity as Lebanon was being bombed by Israel at the time that Arbid had intended to begin shooting. It also ends in a manner that points to, at least for this critic, another tragically momentous event for Beirut, though that may be reading too much into it. More importantly, in between the beginning and ending credits, a story of longing unfolds. And having Abbass as part of that dynamic does help in making the film a very pleasant watch.

Arbid, attempting to break many taboos for Lebanese society, including the older woman/younger man relationship, gay characters, and mixed couples romance, does make the best of a wonderful cast of supporting characters, all played by well-known figures to those who love world cinema. They include Lebanese comedian Shaden Fakih as Suzanne’s daughter, singer Rubis Ramadan as a waitress in a cafe, Syrian-French filmmaker Anas Khalaf as her boss and Ziad Jallad, a Screen Arab Stars of Tomorrow from 2022, as Suzanne’s womanizing son-in-law. One heartwarming Easter egg involves a cameo by Lebanese food activist and chef Kamal Mouzawak as an Orthodox priest who entertains, for only a minute, Suzanne’s idea of marrying Osmane.

In her director’s notes Arbid stated, “The world itself is becoming more radicalized every day, and I believe that cinema, like all art, is political. I feel this is a film that resonates with our particularly troubling times… in the Middle East and now all through the West as well.” I agree that Arbid, whose previous work includes the 2011 Beirut Hotel, a film I really loved, has made a somewhat political film, one which resonates with our troubling times. But perhaps in the process, while also attempting to break as many taboos as she could in Only Rebels Win, the talented filmmaker lost the masterpiece I anticipated from her. What Arbid did manage instead is a film that is an easy watch, with many courageous cinematic moves — including its central premise — and one which should do very well in European cinemas.

(c) Image copyright – Easy Riders Films