![]() In a sea of so much tragedy, it’s a marvel to stop and consider each individual’s experience fighting the tide.CommentsJoy Baker I'd love to learn more about these caves too.īaybgee Tengu I'm sure it comes out at Elizabeth point? Blackwater rafting? Not 100% sure on that one? Beyond the human need to hear and see these stories, it’s a beautifully shot documentary that’s as stunning as the images are harrowing. It’s a feeling shared by many of those living it then and now. It’s quite probable that “The Cave” may leave you feeling helpless after watching it. Here, we see the many faces of the women who are fighting to keep one more child from dying from the conflict. But they are also a testament that refutes the Syrian government’s official story that waved off allegations of chemical weapons and their allegations that the so-called rebels they were after were a threat. They are part of a portrait of many, just one example of resilience in the face of impossible odds. Ballour calming a little girl’s fears by braiding her hair or the women of the hospital having fun together just as much as it does its more somber moments.Īs with the “Last Men in Aleppo,” Fayyad looks to a group of selfless heroes to tell the story of Syria that doesn’t always make international news. What the camera captures is terrible enough, especially when the documentary reaches a stomach-churning apex when it records the horror of chemical warfare, a war crime in progress and possibly on its way to contaminate the hospital. A bold orchestral score ramps up the tension in some of the scenes, but it’s almost overkill. Eventually, the doctors’ stoicism melts into tears over the nonstop carnage. In one gut-wrenching shot, a mother cries over the lifeless body of her son asking him why did he break her heart. On some days, there looks to be more dead patients than live ones. The injuries coming into the hospital become progressively worse as the bombings inch closer to The Cave. So much of “The Cave” focuses on the daily chaos these healthcare professionals contend with, the scope of which can feel overwhelming long before you see the worst of what they face. Ballour and her colleagues, like the few other moments of calm, are rare but effective. Ballour, and although they don’t always share scenes together, it’s clear that these women are the backbone of this facility, making space for the wounded where there is none and looking out for the needs of everyone on their team. ![]() ![]() Samaher is the boisterous opposite to Dr. In addition to creating a space for herself and earning the trust of the male staff, she also actively hires and recruits women like Samaher, a nurse who seems to help with everything from surgeries to cooking the staff meals out of limited rations. Ballour, and it still wouldn’t do her justice. The movie could spend so much more time with Dr. With the help of a male colleague, she swats their close-minded remarks away. She does this with a calm demeanor even when sexist men berate her for not staying at home to be a mother. Amani Ballour, who stayed behind to manage the hospital. Cutting through the chaos is a determined young pediatrician, Dr. The Cave, which gives this film its title, is like a lighthouse for those in need above and below the city’s war-torn surface, even as the hospital’s supplies and staff dwindle and the city’s survivors face endless threats from airstrikes and starvation.Įven in the darkest of moments, The Cave’s staff stay resolute and do their best to improvise surgeries without anesthesia or come up with enough food for the entire staff. Here, Fayyad’s documentary switches focus from the tunnels to this hospital-possibly out of concerns for those hiding underground or as a way to show just how bleak things have gotten for the region from 2016-2018. The Cave, a last resort hospital staffed by dogged professionals, operates in this vast underground network.
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