A simple google search on Capernaum after watching the movie revealed that the movie was named after the ancient fishing town of Capernaum in Israel. The name roughly translates to a disorderly accumulation of objects. If you watch the movie, you would realize how apt the name really is.
Coming back to the actual movie, I have a question to ask.
How long did you enjoy childhood?
It seems like a weird question to ask. But to a lot of us childhood did not end when we turned 18. We have this extended grace period where our family and friends still accommodate all our whims and fancies. To some of us, it will continue even into adulthood. Remember that if you didn’t have to support your family financially instead of getting educated, you have had a very privileged life.
Zain is an adult in a child’s body. He barely had a childhood before he was thrust into work and exploitation. Sahar, his sister, has it even worse with child marriage. In some parts of the world, all of this really counts as alright parenting. Zain is a better parent than his own parents. He is the best brother one can ask for. A feminist who speaks up for his sister. He is the perfect kid in a world that is just completely unfair. Everything that can wrong for a child happens to him but he still perseveres. I don't mean to romanticise his struggles. But he somehow finds the strength to smile and when he does it is just so radiant!
The movie Capernaum can be a shocking revelation to many. It opens your eyes to your privilege, how easy you have it in life. From an adult’s perspective, the world seems like an okay place mostly but when the camera goes lower, you realise how bad life is for children in countries with unstable governments, war-torn with internal unrest, where poverty and hunger is the norm. But all these decisions, to wage wars and put arms over food and education were made by adults. Including the one where they chose to give birth to those kids.
It’s a vicious circle where people are deprived of primary healthcare facilities and contraceptives and then also blamed for having too many kids. Where they are forced to commit crimes for a living and also blamed for the crime rate in the country.
We are just so used to inequality that sometimes it is weird to even think of an equal world. What would that even look like?
Its Available in NETFLIX
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