The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

This movie really ranks up there with the best of Indie cinema on several levels. It is amazingly powerful and creative given the budget. While I (like many) criticize the one-sided/distorted version of events (i.e. the bus scene at the beginning where seemingly civilians are shot, when in reality they were PLO fighters), they can almost be forgiven if we put ourselves in the mindset of a child of the protagonist's age trying to figure things out, and only gets the information he is told (from his own Muslim faction). There are also a few other subtle digs at Christians (i.e. the amiable neighborhood pedophile happens to be named "Christian"), and the homosexual overtones are a bit unsettling (the author is gay, and understandably this is his story, but they could have been left out since this has to do with children). Overall, the story achieves its purpose of how war robs children and families of normalcy, when in the end that's really all most people want. The musical score is beyond exquisite and this is definitely worth watching.

I recently saw this movie on DVD and it was quite interesting and in a way moving. Although the movie could have been better such as more of the conflict could have been shown there were many moving parts such as the shooting of the bus. The movie shows what the Lebanese people had to go through under french rule. I would recommend it as its a good piece of history. The movie which begins in a school with mixed Christians and muslims was interesting and the fact that a Christian girl becomes best friends with two muslims just shows its not always about religion. Now though Lebanon is a mixed country with both Christians and muslims in harmony lets hope another civil war doesn't break out.

I wouldn't know how a non-Lebanese would look at this film. But to me, it's a very personal movie because I've lived similar events, even if 10 years later. It's definitely one of my favourite movies. And I have to say that the 3 leads have done great jobs for first-timers. "Carmen Lebbos" as the mother was superb, but my favourite character will always be "Leila Karam as" "Emm walid"

This is a WONDERFUL movie, it is a historical glimpse on Lebanon, 1975, through the eyes of a teenager. If (usually) U.S. citizens ask themselves "how can "those people" live in "those countries"? This is the perfect answer to it. When you have a LIFE, FRIENDS, FAMILY, when you don't believe that things can be changed, when life is LIKE THAT, you accept things that you cannot change.The protagonist (EXCELLENT actor Rami Doueiri) goes through life as a happy go lucky teenager, used to living under such political changes, but untouched by them. In this movie of "coming of age", you can follow him in his seamless transition into adulthood: the realization of what life has became.PLEASE DO NOT MISS THIS MOVIE - IT IS A MUST SEE - from any angle that you may want to look at it. You will gain different undertanding of things that you probably had before, if you are not a citizen from Lebanon, watch it and learn something.