Collateral damage
Apartment dwellers find themselves in danger ‘In Syria’
What do we think of these days when we hear a mention of Syria? Probably, the first thing that comes to mind is the flood of war refugees pouring out of the country, refugees to whom our own country has applied a policy of “enhanced vetting.” Or possibly we think of the civil war itself, seven years long and counting – one of the strangest phenomena of shifting political allegiances and official positions ever.
What we’re less likely to picture is what the incessant struggle must mean in the daily lives of neutral citizens who are caught in the middle of the see-sawing hostilities. A film that takes us right in through the living-room window of one middle-class family is a recent BelgianFrench-Lebanese production, appropriately titled “In Syria.”
With a bang
The story observes the traditional Aristotelian “unities” of time and place, confining itself to what happens within the walls of a single family apartment in a 24-hour period. The action that takes place among the 10 or so inhabitants is perhaps a bit messier.
We begin with the framing image of the family patriarch, Abou, looking out of the window at the rubble of his neighborhood, flinching as bursts of machinegun fire sound from varying distances away.
Cut to the bedroom of a young guest couple, Samir and Halima, who are finalizing their plans to escape across the border into Lebanon with their baby. Before he can leave, though, Samir needs to make a quick run into the city for one more meeting.
Samir sets out but, before he gets to the gate, is shot by an invisible sniper and collapses out of sight. Only the immigrant housekeeper, Delhani, sees what happened and when she tells Oum, the mistress of the house, she is told to keep it quiet until nightfall so that no one self-destructively tries to go out and bring in the body.
Trade-offs
As if that heavy secret weren’t enough tension for one day, the unreliable cell service means that Oum doesn’t know the whereabouts of her own husband, who went out for supplies the day before. Has he been unable to make it back through the various roadblocks and skirmishes. Has he been detained? Or has he too been killed?
Oum insists on observing a normal daily routine, if only to maintain the sanity of the household, which includes, besides those already mentioned, her preteen son and teenage daughter as well as the daughter’s boyfriend. Delhani needs to keep up with the usual cleaning, the kids have their schoolwork and grandpa has his afternoon nap in the easy chair.
It’s hard to stay focused, though, with distractions like several unknown men pounding on the barricaded door, insisting on coming in for a better view of the street. Are they local watchmen, rebels, government officials? There’s no way to tell.
The inhabitants of the apartment are in the most vulnerable position possible without any able- bodied men among them. How long can they go on without food or running water? How long can they keep the place secure from the variety threats outside?
In short, what further moral dilemmas will they face? What kinds of compromises will they have to make, how many times and for how long? As viewers, we are confronted with the inescapable question: What would we do to save our own family?