West Beirut (بيروت الغربية) is a fictional, coming of age story written and directed by Ziad Doueiri. The movie focuses on Tarek, a teenage boy living on the West side of Beirut during the beginning of the Lebanese Civil War. The movie begins on Sunday, April 13th, 1975. Tarek is causing trouble at the French school he and his friend Omar attend. As punishment, Tarek is sent out to the hallway. The windows in the hallway overlook the street where a group of Phalangists is preparing to attack a bus of Palestinians on their way to Ain el-Rummaneh, a mostly Christian suburb in East Beirut. Though the movie is fictional, it depicts events, such as this one, that really happened during the civil war. “The Bus Massacre,” as it’s called, and the killing of four people by an unknown group of gunmen earlier that day near a church in Ain el-Rummaneh are the two events credited with triggering the civil war in Lebanon, though tensions had been rising for a long time.

At first, the potential war seems exciting for Tarek and Omar - school is cancelled and there are frequent demonstrations in the streets. As the war continues though, it alters all aspects of their lives: parents lose jobs or become more religious, neighbors grow distant and violent, and areas of the city become inaccessible. As time passes, Tarek and Omar find themselves missing the lives they had and worried about what the future will hold.

West Beirut is full of colorful language, which is great for expanding your repertoire of insults, but may not be suitable for all audiences. The movie is available on Netflix with Arabic and English subtitles, although the subtitles do not always convey the full range of dialogue. For example, Omar and Tarek reference Omar’s uncle Badeeah a number of times but he’s mostly omitted from the English subtitles. So, as always, we recommend watching this movie at least once without subtitles.

Vocabulary / مفردات

الحرب الاهلية
The civil war
Literal translation: the family war

بيروت الشرقية
East Beirut
East Beirut is where most Christians lived

بيروت الغربية
West Beirut
West Beirut is where most Muslims lived

مسيحي/ة
Christian

مسلم/ة
Muslim

1:24:48
حلوف (يحلف / حلف)
Swear (command form)

1:12:22
الزجاج
(Pronounced الزاز)
The glass (the material)

1:05:12
بالأذن
Excuse me
Literal translation: in the ear

58:59
الله يوفقكم
May God grant you (plural) success, aka good luck

56:25
سكر/ي
Shut up (command form)

55:27
بينفعنا (نفع)
It benefits us or it's good for us

49:13
بلا زوق وبلا عصب
No class and no nerve, aka you're a trashy coward

47:02
ما كفينا فوضة برّا؟
Is the chaos outside not enough for us?

43:17
روح هلا وشوف
Look at things now (verbs in command form)
Literal translation: go now and see

42:49
انا بموت ب[الفلافل]
I love (falafel)
Literal translation: I die for falafel

21:02
البلد راحت
The country is gone
You can use the verb راح to mean that something is over, done, or a lost cause

14:03
أعوذ بالله
God forbid! No way!
Literal translation: I take refuge in God

6:50
الحكي طلع من تمي هيك
The words just came out; I didn’t mean what I said
Literal translation: the words came out of my mouth that way