30 November 2012
BEIRUT: “My Last Valentine in Beirut,” Salim el Turk’s 3-D feature, opened in theaters across the capital Nov. 15, but it’s run may now be cut short by a lawsuit over the depiction of nurses in the film.
Although the main character is a prostitute, and many scenes of the movie deal with sexual intercourse, the sexual content isn’t what has censors viewing the flick.
The romantic comedy tells the story of a woman, Lorraine Kodeih, who has been raped by her uncle. Living in miserable conditions with her mother, she becomes a prostitute. She meets a film director, who convinces her to put cameras in her house in order to be the leading star of a new film. But everything falls apart when she is diagnosed with cancer.
Nov. 8 – a week before its release – a lawsuit was filed (complaint number 19,956) by the Order of Nurses in Lebanon to the censorship bureau of General Security. The OON wants to draw attention to the negative image about nurses which is given in the film.
The complaint relates specifically to the use of an offensive nurse outfit.
“[The lawsuit] is not against the film,” lawyer Roger Abi Rached told The Daily Star in a phone interview.
Abi Rached, the lead counsel in the case, insisted on the fact that the legal case is not against film director Turk.
“Instead of encouraging young people to become nurses,” he continued, “[the scenes in question] do the exact opposite.”
The file of the lawsuit is now in the hands of a judge, although Abi Rached wasn’t specific on when a decision was expected.
Rumors have circulated about Turk deciding pull the movie from Lebanese theaters, but the feature continues to be screened.
The lawsuit by OON seeks “to delete all the scenes dealing with nurses,” as written on their website.
General Security could not be reached for further clarification on the case.
Copyright The Daily Star 2012.
