About the Film: Once Upon a Time, Beirut (Lebanon, 1995) Director: Jocelyn Saab Length: 101 minutes Language: Arabic and French with English subtitles Synopsis: Distraught over their city s recent destruction during the Lebanese Civil War, Yasmine and Leila embark on a journey in search of Beirut s past glory. They carry with them two rare, unreleased film prints which help them land a meeting with the reclusive and eccentric film connoisseur, Monsieur Farouk. Through the magic of cinema, the three travel back in time on a mythical, history-laden tour of the city. Here, Once Upon a Time: Beirut shines as the travelers visit the Beirut of the French-directed films of the 1930s. Next they explore the Beirut of the 1960s as seen through the sense of Arab filmmakers and finally they visit the Beirut of the large-scale American studio efforts of the 1970s. Where to find Once Upon a Time, Beirut: Available at the Middle East Studies Center resource library About the Lesson: Grade Level: High School. The film makes reference to sex and heroin. Relevant Subject: Language Arts, Film Studies, Social Studies For the Teacher: Through Once Upon a Time, Beirut, Director Jocelyn Saab uses clips of hundreds of films to display the city of Beirut throughout its modern history. The main characters of the film, Leila and Yasmeen, have only known their Beirut as a city torn by civil war and they seek to understand its former glory. Saab narrates the story through an intentionally confusing series of clips, blurring the lines between past and present, reality and film, to evoke trauma of war and the haze of memory. The film is intentionally complicated and there is a limited narrative for students to follow. Encourage students to focus on the ideas and feelings of the film rather than understanding it as a narrative. This is an excellent film for in depth analysis of literary structures and story interpretation. 1
Lesson: Once Upon a Time, Beirut For High School Students Background Information: This film takes place at the end of the 15 year Civil War in Lebanon (1975-1990). While familiarity with the details of the war is not required to understand and appreciate the film, it will enhance your understanding and ability to teach the film. You can find background information here: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/lebanon.htm http://www.ghazi.de/civwar.html http://middleeast.about.com/od/lebanon/a/me081026e_2.htm Materials: Film: Once Upon a Time, Beirut Copies of Watching the Film: An Organizational Tool Copies of Once Upon a Time, Beirut vocabulary sheet Previewing Activity: Select one of the following pre-viewing discussion questions: 1. Explain to your students that Once Upon a Time, Beirut, shows the city of Beirut over history. Ask them to think about what they know about Beirut now and what they imagine Beirut was like in the past. Have them write down their answers for five minutes. 2. Have your students imagine that their country has been at war. Ask them to think about what that would be like. Have them journal for five minutes. If they need help, use the following questions: What would it be like to have loved ones serving in the military and risking injury or death? Imagine that the city you live in has been destroyed by bombs. What would that be like? What do you think your daily life would be like? What things would you worry about? What would you be afraid of? After private journaling for five minutes, ask students to share with the class what they thought about. Lead a discussion about growing up in time of conflict Watching the Film: Explain to the students that this is a film about the history of Beirut through cinema. The main characters are two teenage girls, Leila and Yasmeen, who have grown up 2
only knowing Beirut as a city torn by civil war. They have grown up hearing about its former glory as the pearl of the Middle East but have no memory of that. Explain that the director, Jocelyn Saab, utilizes a unique method of cinematography to illustrate the city. She uses clips of hundreds of films to display the city of Beirut and review its modern history. Saab narrates the story through an intentionally confusing series of clips that blur the lines between past and present, reality and fiction to evoke the trauma of war and the haze of memory. Encourage students to think about the feelings they get from the film rather than focus too strongly on the narrative. Have students fill in the Watching Once Upon a Time worksheet below After the Film Discussion Questions: Once Upon a Time, Beirut, shows the evolution over time. Using the notes you took during the movie, how does the city change throughout history? What was it like in the 40s? 50s? 60s? 70s? What do you think Lebanon is like today? Compare Beirut in those different time periods to America in those time periods. What are the similarities? What are the differences? What surprised you about the depiction of Beirut? The film opens with the following quote from Hiroshima, Mon Amour, a 1959 French film written by M. Duras: Like you, I have forgotten. Like you, I wanted my memory to be inconsolable, a memory of shadow and stone. I struggle for myself, everyday, with all my might, against the horror of no longer understanding the reason for remembering. Like you, I have forgotten. Why deny obvious need to remember? Listen to me, listen to me once more, it will start again. Hiroshima Mon Amour (A. Resnais/M. Duras) What does this say about memory? Do you think it s important to remember traumatic, historical events (like the Lebanese Civil War or Hiroshima)? Why do you think this is the opening to the film? In the beginning of the film, Leila says: These are the only imagines that we ve found of our city, Mr. Farouk. They are undoubtedly very beautiful, but, frankly, a little bit out of date.we found nothing else except some clichés as: Beirut, the pearl of the Middle East the Switzerland of the Oreint Beirut, a cosmopolitan city where East meets West. 3
Why do you think they re looking for more than a cliché about Beirut? Do they find it? What are some clichés about your city? How does that differ from the reality of it? The film is quite confusing as it goes back and forth between Mr. Farouk s theater and the films that they are watching. Sometimes Leila and Yasmine appear in the films, sometimes we presume they are the audience. What feeling do you get from watching the film? Why do you think the director did it this way? How does this ambiguity mirror the way that memory works? The film ends with a scene of religious leaders discussion the notion of truth. A student calls truth a monkey and the film cuts to an image of a boy laughing. Did you like this ending? What does this ending tell us about the director s idea of truth? Imagine your country has been faced with a civil war. How do you think you would feel? Would you feel like Yasmine and Leila? What might you do to better understand your city? 4
Once Upon a Time, Beirut Watching the Film: An Organizational Tool Throughout the film, different scenes films shown are given the titles below. As you watch the film, jot down what you see in each film and what feelings the images and music evoke: 1914 Leila and Yasmine play a trick on Mr. Farouk: 1950s Leila and Yasmine meet two nice men: 1960s Our two heroines become besotted with a gangster: 1965 How Leila and Yasmine dress up as creatures of the night: 1930s Leila and Yasmine cross the burning desert of the Lebanese cedars: 1960s and Leila and Yasmine star in one big foreign film: 1970s the war has started and you know it: 5
Once Upon a Time, Beirut Vocabulary List 1. Savoir Vivre: a French term literally meaning knowing how to live. It implies a knowledge of the world and familiarity with the customs of high society 2. Bedouin: an Arab nomad. Bedouins generally live in the desert and are divided into various tribes or clans. 3. Bazaar/Souk: A market consisting of a street lined with shops and stalls commonly found in the Middle East. 4. Aley, Bhamdoun, Sofar: Historic summer mountain resorts of Lebanon. Since the 19 th century, Lebanese and wealthy Arabs from neighboring countries vacation in these towns. 5. Besotted: Strongly infatuated 6. Bey: The governor of a district or province in the Ottoman Empire. Previously used as a courtesy title, particularly in Egypt. 7. Maronite Christian: The largest Christian community in Lebanon, they are affiliated with the Roman Catholic church, though have their own traditions and customs. In Lebanon, an agreement dictates that the President is a Maronite Christian. 8. Sunni: One who follows the ways and customs of Muhammad, specifically those who accept that authority was passed down through consensus of the Muslim community. In Lebanon, Sunni Muslims are about 30% of the total population and they are the only sect eligible to be prime minister of Lebanon. 9. Shia: From the Arabic party; one who believes that authority passed from the Prophet Muhammed to his lineal descendants. In Lebanon, Shi a Muslims are around 30% of the total population. A Lebanese agreement signed in 1943 dictates that the speaker of parliament be a Shia. Add your own vocabulary on the back: 6
Once Upon a Time, Beirut My Vocabulary Vocabulary Word Definition 7
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