For Sama (2019)
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For Sama Movie Review
For Sama is a 2019 Syrian documentary film directed by Waad Al-Kateab. It’s a very good, incredibly difficult movie to watch.
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“Sama. You’re the most beautiful thing in our life.
But what a life I’ve brought you into.
You didn’t choose this. Will you ever forgive me?“
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This is an intimate and epic journey into the female experience of war. It follows Waad Al-Kateab’s life through five years of the uprising in Aleppo, Syria as she falls in love, gets married and gives birth to Sama, all while conflict rises around her. There have been films about the Syrian Civil War before this one, but all were about men, so this female perspective was an interesting, new take on this subject that lent the picture some much needed authenticity.
The film purposefully left out the politics of it all, and that choice was made for better and for worse. On the one hand, I did appreciate the film not taking easy sides and jabs against others, but at the same time the explanations were missing. For somebody like me who isn’t really knowledgeable about this conflict, the film fails to give any proper explanation or background to this unrest, which led to a very shallow flick in that regard.
However, For Sama is wonderful as an intimate, more personal tale of this one woman, her husband and their child, and how they have to decide whether they want to stay in this heavily bombed city or leave it behind. That question is powerfully depicted, the film is very emotional and the family interactions are lovely. This is one wonderful family for whom you care for, and as such you empathize with their horrible plight.
The documentary is very difficult to handle. I am talking about its imagery – from bombed surroundings to dead people everywhere to even children being shown dead on the streets or wounded, this one is surely a tough sit through. The baby scene also started off horribly, but it ended miraculously thankfully.
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The editing is strong, the pacing is great and the film is pretty engaging throughout. The dialogue is solid, and the emotional investment is huge. The movie has no typical conversations and sittings for a documentary, but is more composed as a personal odyssey, and a live-action feature which made it much more engaging to follow.
For Sama purposefully left out the politics of it all for better and for worse, but it succeeds as a very intimate, personal portrayal of regular people’s horrible plight during the Syrian Civil War. The film is a difficult, but engaging watch that is emotionally powerful and horrific in some of its imagery.
