In this part one post, we’ll be looking at vocabulary that will help us describe our favorite movies in Levantine Arabic with example questions to help us practice. We’ll also take a look at a well-known Arabic Levantine film that has been recommended for Arabic learners searching for good films to watch in Arabic.

Let’s begin with types of movies in Arabic. The question you would ask here is:

شو نوع الفيلم؟    What type of movie is it?

خَيالي: fantasy

دراما: drama

رومنسي: romance

كوميدي: comedy

وَثائِقي: documentary

أكشِن: action

رُعْب: horror

تاريخي: historical

أكشِن: action

Here are some positive and negative adjectives to help us describe movies.

The questions you could ask here are:

شو رأيك بالفيلم؟   What do you think of the film?/What’s your opinion of the film?

كيف كان الفيلم؟    How was the film?

Positive	Negative
حَلو: nice/beautiful	مو حَلو: not nice
مُضْحِك: funny	مُحْزِن: sad
مُؤَثِر: thought provoking or leaves an effect	مُمِل: boring
رَائِع: wonderful/fabulous/terrific	تَعْبان: literally means “tired” but is used to mean that the film is “weak”
قَوي: strong	عَنيف: violent
مُجْذِب: intriguing	مُرْعْب: horrifying/scary

 

Now, let’s look at more vocabulary that will help us describe the characters, actors, plot, etc.

مُمَثِل: actor	نِهاية: ending
مُمَثِلة: actress	طول: duration/length
شَخْصية: character	بَطَل: hero/main character
الشخصية الرَّئيسية: main character	شَرير: villain
دور: role	نِهاية: ending
المُخْرِج: director	زَمان: time
مكان: place	قِصة: story

For example, you could ask:

مين بِمَثِل بالفيلم؟   Who acts/stars in the film?

عَن شو الفيلم؟    What is the film about?

شو قِصة الفيلم؟   What’s the story of the film?

شو بِصير نِهاية الفيلم؟  What happens at the end of the film?

 

✨مُناقَشة أفلام  Film Discussion

Let’s practice by answering these two questions in Arabic, then fill in the blanks to help you give a basic description of any movie you wish in Arabic.

شو فيلمك المُفَضَل وليش؟

What’s your favorite movie and why?

عندك مُمَثِل مُفَضَل، شو اسمه وبأي فيلم إنشَهَر؟

Do you have a favorite actor, and which movie made him/her famous?

(هو فيلم……. (نوع الفيلم

It is a ….. film. (type of film)

…..المُمَثل/ة ……. هو/هي الشخصية الرئيسية وبِلْعَب/تَلْعَب دور ال

The actor/actress….. is the main character and plays the role of…..

……الفيلم عَن

The movie is about…..

……نِهاية الفيلم

The ending of the film is…..(use one or more of the descriptions above)

Here is a Levantine Arabic (Jordanian) film suggestion. 🤩

Captain Abu Raed – Trailer

[FULL MOVIE] Captain Abu Raed  (here is the full movie on YouTube with English subtitles)

This film is about an elderly airport عامِل نَظافة janitor named أبو رائِد Abu Raid who finds an old قُبْعة طَيار pilot’s hat in the trash. When he returns home, a neighborhood child sees him wearing the hat and mistakes him for a real طَيار pilot. Soon he finds himself telling قِصَص خَيالية make believe stories about his travels to excited children who look up to him as a hero.

I hope you give this movie a try! Till next week, happy Arabic learning! 😊