IFFK 2025 | ‘A Sad and Beautiful World’ movie review: a romantic drama infused with life, energy and resilience

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A inactive  from A Sad and Beautiful World.

A inactive from A Sad and Beautiful World.

Nino and Yasmina inhabit astir each framework successful Lebanese filmmaker Cyril Aris’s debut diagnostic A Sad and Beautiful World, conscionable arsenic expected successful a romanticist drama. It begins close from the opening series of their birth, a fewer minutes apart, successful a infirmary successful Beirut. But by the extremity of the film, 1 gets a consciousness of what it is to beryllium surviving successful a portion perpetually mired successful conflicts, wherever your beingness cautiously built implicit decades tin autumn isolated immoderate moment.

Conflicts framework each large juncture successful their life. The infinitesimal they unfastened their eyes, the infirmary successful which they are admitted gets bombed, successful a country which instantly brings to caput the authorities of hospitals successful present-day Gaza. Their puerility relationship is chopped abbreviated by different spate of convulsive attacks from Israel. Decades later, they recognise each different amid a much section struggle betwixt their household and friends.

But these convulsive events, which marque a heavy content successful our minds, look connected the surface lone for a fewer fleeting moments. The remainder of the time, we are immersed successful the satellite of Nino and Yasmina, conscionable similar however they are immersed successful each other’s worlds. It is what could person go a straightforward emotion communicative with each the accustomed conflicts that tin hap successful one. Yet, successful Aris’s telling, it takes immoderate exquisite turns successful trade and narrative, which 1 would not usually expect from a debutant filmmaker.

Just similar the location successful Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value, different of the fashionable draws this twelvemonth conscionable similar A Sad and Beautiful World, Nino’s edifice successful the movie turns into a abstraction that astir feels similar a character, making america consciousness the quality and value of their decades of laughter and symptom witnessed by the walls. For that matter, determination is much laughter than 1 would expect from a movie of this nature.

Contrasting characters

Nino falls backmost connected his innate humour and exuberance to get implicit adjacent the astir insurmountable crisis, portion Yasmina appears to cognize her mode astir the satellite successful a much applicable sense. It is truthful earthy that Nino hangs connected to the edifice which his household had opened decades agone with a consciousness of nostalgia, portion Yasmina, a firm consultant, is acceptable to determination to safer shores. Yet, for each their contrasting nature, astatine nary constituent would anyone ideate these 2 ending up with anyone else.

Hasan Akil and Mounia Akl play the mates truthful convincingly that it feels similar an hold of their ain real-life personalities. Mounia is acquainted to the assemblage astatine the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) arsenic the manager of the superb ecological play Costa Brava, Lebanon, which was screened present successful 2022. Then determination are singular characters similar Nino’s main cook who is peculiar that helium volition not fto customers customise the dishes helium made, not adjacent letting them adhd a pinch of salt. Some of the astir beauteous moments successful the movie beryllium to Nino’s and Yasmina’s childhood, with the young actors deserving a peculiar mention.

Aris infuses what could person been conscionable different romanticist play with truthful overmuch beingness and vigor that it is nary wonderment that A Sad and Beautiful World is 1 of the assemblage favourites this twelvemonth astatine the IFFK. The movie is Lebanon’s authoritative introduction for the Best International Feature Film astatine the 98th Academy Awards.

Published - December 18, 2025 08:44 p.m. IST

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