Quartile rating: 3.5/10 · 1 rating
2023 marked the thirtieth anniversary of Maroun Baghdadi’s sudden and tragic death. Maroun was a Lebanese filmmaker who wrote and directed films during the Lebanese civil war and contributed to documentary and fiction filmmaking from 1973 up until his death in 1993. In this film, Feyrouz Serhal embarks on a day trip in Beirut and navigates the city that profoundly shaped Maroun’s journey in life and cinema. Here she encounters individuals who were close to him and who shared his experiences. And as she traverses Maroun’s life and career, the social and political backdrop moves to the foreground. The film reflects on the last fifty years of the history of the country from a present standpoint. Through Maroun’s story, we perceive how cinema can, beautifully and dramatically, portray our stories and discourse our life events..
Maroun Returns to Beirut is a reflective documentary tribute that uses a day-trip structure through Beirut to revisit the legacy of Lebanese filmmaker Maroun Baghdadi. The approach is thoughtful and the subject matter genuinely rich — weaving civil war history, personal memory, and cinematic legacy together gives the film a layered quality above the average talking-heads documentary. The cinematography captures present-day Beirut with some sensitivity, though it rarely distinguishes itself visually. The 'acting' category, interpreted here as the on-screen presence of Serhal and the interviewees, is serviceable but uneven — interviewees offer personal warmth but the film doesn't always elicit the most compelling testimony. The day-trip conceit is a modest structural novelty that prevents the film from feeling fully formulaic, though it isn't groundbreaking either. The ending feels somewhat inconclusive, trailing off without a strong emotional or intellectual resolution, which is a missed opportunity given the richness of the material. Overall, a solid niche documentary that will resonate with those interested in Lebanese cinema and history, but doesn't fully transcend its commemorative premise.