The Syrian Bride (2004)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Eran Riklis

Writers:

Suha Arraf (writer)
Eran Riklis (writer)

Release Date:

2 December 2004 (Israel)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

In Majdal Shams, the largest Druze village in Golan Heights on the Israeli-Syrian border, the Druze bride Mona is engaged to get married with Tallel...

Awards:

7 wins & 13 nominations

Cast

Hiam Abbass	...	Amal (as Hiyam Abbass)
Makram Khoury	...	Hammed (as Makram J. Khoury)
Clara Khoury	...	Mona
Ashraf Barhom	...	Marwan (as Ashraf Barhoum)
Eyad Sheety	...	Hattem
Evelyn Kaplun	...	Evelyna (as Evelyne Kaplun)
Julie-Anne Roth	...	Jeanne
Adnan Tarabshi	...	Amin (as Adnan Trabshi)
Marlene Bajali	...	The Mother (as Marlene Bajjali)
Uri Gavriel	...	Simon (as Uri Gabriel)
Alon Dahan	...	Arik
Robert Henig	...	Joseph (as Robert Hoenig)
Dirar Suleiman	...	Tallel
Ranin Boulos	...	Mai
Hanna Abou-Manneh	...	Rama

Also Known As:

Die syrische Braut (Germany)
Ha-Kala Ha-Surit (Israel: Hebrew title)
La fiancée syrienne (France)

Runtime:

97 min | Israel:96 min

Country:

France | Germany | Israel

Language:

Arabic | English | Hebrew | Russian | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Germany:o.Al. | France:U | Netherlands:AL | Singapore:PG | Brazil:Livre | Argentina:Atp | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud)

Filming Locations:

Galilee, Israel

Company:

Eran Riklis Productions

Trivia:

Filming was done in two different Druze villages, one pro-Syrian and one pro-Israeli, depending on the political tilt of the scenes. Also, since Israeli authorities would not give permission to film at the actual border, a mock-up was built some distance away.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The UN agent says on July 17th 2000 that it's a Thursday. That date was a Monday.

An excellent film, well portrayed

The plot has been well described in earlier comments. During the film I was reminded of an early computer game called Bureaucracy where every effort to accomplish something was met by official stumbling blocks. The four language dialog and actual site of the film added a true sense of reality. The English subtitles and the facial expressions of the actors were more than adequate to convey the emotional content of the story. After a few minutes into the film, I became unaware of the fact that I was reading the dialog and was totally immersed in the plot. The father's acceptance of the errant son visiting from Russia was very touching and realistic. The older sister's walk away from the border was somewhat enigmatic to me. The end of the film left a very big question in my mind. Did the Syrian border guard let the bride into Syria?