FILM REVIEW: Martyr

Mazen Khaled has taken a true story of death and created a beautiful  , often enigmatic , picture of survival in war-torn Beirut.

Hamza Mekdad  – as Hassane – is between jobs ,  having left his last one because he was “ humiliated “ ,  and leads a lazy, aimless existence , falling out with his parents and finding release hanging out with a group of young men who love sunbathing, swimming and diving.

Though it’s never explicitly said, there is clearly a physical bond between Hassane and  one of the group , the director leaving it to our imaginations but filling the screen with homoerotic images that suggest rather than announce it.

The director  perfectly captures the hazy, unrelenting and life-draining heat of Beirut.

Urged on, Hassane decides to take a high dive into the sea, with tragic results. And the film now suddenly veers from realism into a poetic, often balletic realisation of the grief that Hassane’s premature death causes to his friends and family.

God and faith are often on the characters’ lips and there’s a very strong religious feeling to the remaining two-thirds of the movie. Hassane’s lifeless body is inexplicably carried back to the sea by his friends in images reminiscent of the paintings of Caravaggio and others depicting the lifeless body of Christ in the loving arms of his disciples.

Unnervingly but to great effect the dead Hassane walks through some  scenes and there is a balletic pas de deux  between his prone body and his best friend supporting him. The women of the family and community have a ritualistic dance sequence and the film has a very long, dialogue-free sequence where the swimming friends are allowed to perform the ritual washing of the corpse.

If this all sounds gruesome , it has to be said that the film is lovingly photographed and though the final sequence is hard to take in its entirety, there is a beauty in the ritual .

A strange film of love, loss, grief, unfulfilled passion that’s worth the watch.

Martyr is distributed by Peccadillo Pictures and available on various platforms – more information at peccapics.com