The contemporary hook for this fable is the setting: a Lebanese village where the Christians and Muslims have crafted a fragile peace built on isolation from the conflicts raging “elsewhere.” But of course, “elsewhere” finds its way in, and we discover that the fable is about something more fundamental than religious difference: the struggle between men who love war and the women who love those warlike men. Director and star Nadine Labaki’s story of how those women seek to change their fate veers from whimsy to deadly seriousness and serves up an ending designed more to provoke discussion than to satisfy any dramatic end. (2011) — Matthew Lickona
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