Anthony Bourdain in Beirut

Anyone see this last night?

Bourdain normally has a food-tourism show called No Reservations in which he globetrots to strange places and eats their indigenous food, drinks and smokes a lot, and cavorts with the locals. I enjoy it. He was filming an episode in Beirut when the war broke out weeks ago. So they made a kind of documentary about making the show when war breaks out.

I thought it was spectacularly good - a completely different view of war than I’m accustomed to seeing. The show wasn’t too gritty, since he and his crew spent several days confined to a luxury hotel overlooking the city. Still it was extremely insightful. Bourdain is so alert to the culture of a situation. He was completely genuine about his fears and his frustrations and his good fortune. The military evacuation was also fascinating. A very positive portrait of the Marines was painted.

This one should win a bunch of awards, I think.

Dang! I missed it.

Anyone know when it will repeat?

I saw it, and agree it was very good. The look on the face of his friend and guide was reall powerful. Right before Anthony said something like “I though he was reacting too doom and gloomy, but he was right.”

It was a strange and sad experience, watching the production, and the situation in Beirut, go off the rails before your eyes.