‘In the Shadow of Beirut’ Review: Lyrical Snapshots From a Beleaguered City’s Underside
Dennis Harvey Film Critic Palestinian refugees have been arriving in the slum district of Sabra and Shalila on the outskirts of Beirut since what Israel calls the War of Independence in 1948. Forty-four years later, their presence (and that of suspected PLO fighters) got targeted in a mid-September massacre by the Christian militia known as Lebanese Forces, executed while Israeli Defense Forces who’d already invaded the nation three months prior stood by. Another four decades have passed since, during which span the area has remained not just a last-resort magnet for multinational refugees, but “the most lawless, poorest, dirtiest place” in the city.