NR (1:38)
Limited release 2/21/14 (Nominated for an Academy Award)
Viewed at Loft with Sheila 3--5-14
RT Critic: 88 Audience: 83
Directed by Hany Abu-Assad
Adopt Films
In Arabic with subtitles
The actor who played Omar, Adam Bakri, was mesmerizing.
My comments: What a story! (And what an incredibly high wall). I'm thinking this took place in Jerusalem/West Bank/Occupied Territories - will do a little more research now, which is usually the way of it, right? This was the only tiny problem I had - I had to spend a little too much time figuring out the setting. I could understand the language being spoken was Arabic, but so were all the police-types. I had no pre-information, but now that I've read the review, I'm glad I didn't. Watching this movie with no previous "clue" about its content was the best thing I could have done. The ending fit perfectly with the character and personality of the protagonist. Anything else would have been untrue to his innermost character. Added note: I can't imagine living like this. On either side, Palestinian or Israeli. Human beings are human beings. How do I know what I'd do if I were put into non-human situations?
Reviews: A tense, gripping thriller about betrayal, suspected and real, in the Occupied Territories. Omar (Adam Bakri) is a Palestinian baker who routinely climbs over the separation wall to meet up with his girl Nadja (Leem Lubany). By night, he's either a freedom fighter or a terrorist-you decide-ready to risk his life to strike at the Israeli military with his childhood friends Tarek (Eyad Hourani) and Amjad (Samer Bisharat). Arrested after the killing of an Israeli soldier and tricked into an admission of guilt by association, he agrees to work as an informant. So begins a dangerous game-is he playing his Israeli handler (Waleed F. Zuaiter) or will he really betray his cause? And who can he trust on either side? Palestinian filmmaker Hany Abu-Assad (Paradise Now) has made a dynamic, action-packed drama about the insoluable moral dilemmas and tough choices facing those on the frontlines of a conflict that shows no sign of letting up.
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