Beirut the Encounter

Just after telephone communication is restored between the warring East and West sides of Beirut, two old college lovers, one Christian, the other Shiite, whose efforts to meet have dismally failed, finally make contact. But as Zeina is leaving for the U.S. the next day, they record their innermost feelings during the night, promising to exchange tapes at the airport. It is as if each side of the city were trying, in vain, to be heard by the other. The monologues, by the well-known writer Ahmad Baydoun, which form the basis of this acutely observed, moving film, have acquired classical status in Lebanese cinema.