Littoral Tideline Wajdi Mouawad

Quebecois theatre director Wajdi Mouawad makes his feature film debut with Littoral, the story of Wahab (Steve LaPlante), a Montrealer of Lebanese descent whose estranged father dies. After learning the truth about his mother's death and his father's lifelong shame, Wahab decides to take his father's body to his hometown in Lebanon to be buried. Wahab is forced to confront his privileged upbringing and lack of knowledge about his homeland when the reality of war-ravaged Lebanon becomes clear to him. The country has no more room nor need for dead bodies, and Wahab and the friends he picks up along the way are forced to search long and hard for a place to lay to rest the body, and with it their own demons. Mouawad has an impressive visual style, giving the film a dreamlike quality. His storytelling is sometimes surreal and non-literal, and always interesting. The soundtrack by Amon Tobin is amazing, atmospheric and driving. Littoral is an excellent story, capturing well a young generation trying to come to terms with and get past the horrible legacy that their parents' generation has thrust upon them. It is at turns funny, touching and devastating, and populated by an engaging cast of characters. (TVA)