The setting of this film is in Director Feras Fayyad’s native war torn Syria from 2016 to 2018. He is following a dedicated team of doctors. They tirelessly treat casualties in an underground hospital. The women are also battling systemic sexism just because they are women?? The setting of the underground hospital seems like a subterranean landscape like the post-apocalyptic world of Mad Max 1979. Life is too dangerous above ground and there is a network of secret tunnels under the city of Ghouta near Damascus. The heart of the film is pediatrician Dr. Amani. She is a young Syrian woman operating in unimaginable conditions. She has great humor and fortitude.
Many people in Syria have been driven from their homes by relentless bombings by their own military and outside forces such as Russia. There is a calm in the tunnel because there is nowhere else left to run feeling. The Cave is actually a lighthouse for those in need above and below the city’s war-torn surface. Unfortunately, the hospital supplies and staff dwindle and the city survivors face endless threats from airstrikes and starvation. Dr. Amani Ballour stays calm when she is berated by sexist men for not staying at home to be a mother. He believes he could get medication in the town if a male doctor had written the prescription? Dr. Ballour has real problems to solve and she doesn’t have time for negative chit-chat!! Samaher is a nurse and she seems to be able to help with doing everything. Surgeries and cooking meals out of limited rations. Many of the stories told in The Cave and also Last Men in Aleppo are about events happening in this war that never reach the news.
There are many people of all ages coming to the hospital for treatment. Everything is in short supply and some things are completely gone. Children and adults need treatment for shell fragments, chemical burns and malnutrition. The children can go all day without having anything to eat? The hospital staff is happy to eat salad and popcorn. You can see the injuries and pain of the people and also of the hospital staff. How long will the hospital be in one piece and able to provide treatment? 3 1/2* (I liked this movie)
107 min, Documentary directed by Feras Fayyad and written by Alisar Hasan and Feras Fayyad with Amani Ballour and Salim Namour.
Note: Imdb 8.1 out of 10 with 362 views, Rotten Tomatoes 96% out of 100 with 56 critics. Roger Ebert 3 1/2* out of 4* Monica Castillo, Amazon 5* with 4 reviews, Metacritic 83 out of 100 with 21 critics (19 positive, 2 mixed) 6.3 out of 10 with (5 positive 3 negative).
Special Note: Filmed in Syria. This film was shortlisted for the Documentary Feature Oscar but Director Feras Fayyad was denied a visa to the US to attend any events to promote his film?? This is a follow-up to the documentary Last Men in Aleppo.
Syrian Conflict: The war in Syria began on 15 March 2011 with demonstrations called the Arab Spring. The protestors demanded the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad. In 2013, Hesbollah entered the war in support of the Syrian army. Russia has supported the Bashar al-Assad government of Syria since 2011, politically, military aid and direct military involvement since September 2015. As a result of the conflict there is terrorism, violence, civil unrest, kidnapping, use of chemical warfare, bombardment by war planes in the air and armed conflict. On 14 April 2018, the US, France and the UK carried out a series of military strikes with aircraft and ship-based missiles against multiple government sites in Syria.
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