The Mountain
Fall Grant 2010 - Post-Production Stage
Ghassan Salhab / Feature Narrative / Lebanon, Qatar / 2010 / 85 min / Black & White / Original Language: Arabic, English / Interests: Drama, War, Avant garde
Synopsis
A work of shadowy implosion, the stark and largely silent narrative of Lebanese director Ghassan Salhab’s fifth film is certain to captivate some audience members and infuriate others. With subtle nods to classics such as Stanley Kubrick’s ‘The Shining’ and Michelangelo Antonioni’s ‘The Passenger’, this black-and-white meditation displays masterful lighting and cinematography as it tells the story of a man checking into a distant, desolate hotel. On his journey up to the place there’s a sudden detour, a mysterious car crash. Once he settles in to his hotel stay, only the whistling of the wind and the slow decay of a decorative pinecone interrupt his waiting, until the violent, final scene. Though the entire film’s running time is only about 90 minutes, some scenes here seem to linger for hours, while their powerful impact may last even longer.
Credits
- Director
- Ghassan Salhab
- Screenwriter
- Ghassan Salhab
- Producer
- Georges Schoucair
About the Director
Ghassan Salhab is a Lebanese screenwriter and film director. He collaborates on various projects and teaches film in Lebanon. He has directed feature films such as 'Beyrouth Fantôme', 'Terra Incognita', 'The Last Man', '1958', 'The Mountain', 'The Valley', 'An open Rose/Warda' and 'The River'. In addition to numerous essays and different video works, including 'Posthumous', 'Chinese Ink', 'Son Image', and 'Le voyage immobile', with Mohamed Soueid. La Rochelle International Film Festival, JCC Carthage, GIFF (Mexico), and La Cinémathèque du Québec have paid tribute to his work. He has also published different texts and articles in various magazines, and two books: 'Fragments du Livre du Naufrage and 'à contre-jour (depuis Beyrouth)'.
Awards and Festival History
Festivals
Doha Tribeca FF 2010 (WP)
FIDMarseille FF 2011
Toronto IFF 2011