Star Scene

By Ian Gibson

Lebanon’s own Simon El Habre premiered his first film The One Man Village in Beirut this past week. The internationally renowned movie, currently playing at Metropolis Empire Sofil in Achrafieh, is a documentary focusing on the Civil War era devastation that a tiny Lebanese village still feels.

Seeman El Habre, the main character, is an aging man with a finely groomed mustache and a beaming smile living with only his animals and his optimism. He is the last remaining inhabitant of the village of Ain El Halazoun; leading a solitary life in the peaceful ruins of his childhood home. His neighbors and family have long left the bombarded town, coming only to visit their now ruined land.
Throughout The One Man Village, the audience watches Seeman attend to his daily life amidst the desolate post-war wasteland. The cinematography, in consisting mostly of slow and steady shots, personifies the dull but peaceful life Seeman has. As he dresses for the day at the break of dawn, talks jovially to his animal companions, or works at tasks meant for more than one hand, we feel both accomplishment and sadness. This is a man surrounded by reminders of pain and suffering, left to deal with them on his own. Needless to say, this movie is depressing and ‘impactfully’ so.

The One Man Village also features brief interviews with former members of the village who, forced to leave during wartime, find themselves displaced from their original home. No matter their dire circumstances or distance from Ain El Halazoun, they each speak of its beauty both before the downfall and in its current condition.

They travel for hours from all over Lebanon, arriving with the early morning sun, only to tend their lost garden and pick at the olive trees that have survived. Though they are filled with sadness of the old days and a longing for restoration, they appear somewhat relieved to leave the corpse-like village – a stark contrast to Seeman’s never faltering presence.

Serving as a study of Arab village culture, the effect of war on civilians, and a portrait of a man defined by (and defiant of) his past, The One Man Village is a film whose serene beauty echoes far beyond the borders of Lebanon.