The Cave: Masterful Doc Exposes the Horrors and Heroes of Syria’s Civil War
By Kim Hughes
Rating: A
Deserved winner of the People’s Choice Documentary Award at TIFF 2019, filmmaker Feras Fayyad’s The Cave may be the saddest, most infuriating chronicle of the ghastly ravages of war on a country’s most vulnerable citizens —children — ever made.
The Cave centres on a hospital built underground in the besieged Syrian city of Al Ghouta, and on the small but immensely dedicated team of doctors and nurses working tirelessly with negligible supplies as missiles decimate entire buildings and Russian warplanes streak the sky.
Day after endless day, there is merciless triage, surgeries without anesthetic, horrifically wounded babies and, for the caregivers, virtually no time to decompress or simply withdraw from the carnage for a while. A milestone birthday celebration brings slight reprieve, but then a stroll outdoors drives home the devastation.
At the heart of the medical team is Dr. Amani Ballour, a young pediatrician whose compassion for her innocent charges is humbling and whose fury at the tragedy beleaguering her country pierces her otherwise cool composure. Calls home to her parents, who plead with her to return to the family garden while cautiously supporting her brave efforts, underscore how widespread the suffering is among everyday Syrians, not just those on the frontlines.
Fayyad — nominated for an Oscar for Last Men in Aleppo — masterfully juxtaposes the claustrophobia of the hospital against the boundless expanse of destruction outside its walls, and the sexism of male onlookers towards the female medical staff against the heroics of the latter’s efforts.
Shot between late 2016 and March 2018, The Cave offers a rare intimacy. So much of what we see of the Syria civil war comes from covertly captured news footage or wobbly cellphone images. Not here. Fascinatingly, Fayyad himself wasn’t allowed into the area, instead directing the film remotely via three locally based cinematographers.
According to press notes, “Fayyad was drawn to the female-centric story because of his own background (mother, seven sisters, and four aunts) and his 15 months in prison for making a film where women and children were tortured.” Despite the insane obstacles facing him, Fayyad presents a gripping and fully realized film that is galvanizing and heartbreaking in equal measure.
The Cave. Directed by Feras Fayyad. Written by Alisar Hasan and Fayyad. With Amani Ballour and Salim Namour. Opens November 1 at Toronto’s TIFF Bell Lightbox and throughout the fall and winter in other cities.