The Syrian Bride (2004)

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, a television comedian that works in the... See full summary »

Director:

Eran Riklis

Writers:

Suha Arraf, Eran Riklis

Stars:

Hiam Abbass, Makram Khoury, Clara Khoury

8 wins & 15 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Hiam Abbass	...	Amal (as Hiyam Abbass)
Makram Khoury	...	Hammed (as Makram J. Khoury)
Clara Khoury	...	Mona
Ashraf Barhom	...	Marwan (as Ashraf Barhoum)
Ali Suliman	...	Syrian Officer 2
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

Storyline

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, a television comedian that works in the Revolution Studios in Damascus, Syria. They have never met each other because of the occupation of the area by Israel since 1967; when Mona moves to Syria, she will lose her undefined nationality and will never be allowed to return home. Mona's father Hammed is a political activist pro-Syria that is on probation by the Israeli government. His older son Hatten married a Russian woman eight years ago and was banished from Majdal Shams by the religious leaders and his father. His brother Marwan is a wolf trader that lives in Italy. His sister Amal has two teenager daughters and has the intention to join the university, but her marriage with Amin is in crisis. When the family gathers for Mona's wedding, an insane bureaucracy jeopardizes the ceremony.

---

Plot Keywords:

syria | wedding | political activist | border | israel | 

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama

---

Details

Official Sites:

Océan Films [fr] Official site [il]

Country:

France Germany Israel

Language:

Arabic English Hebrew Russian French

Release Date:

2 December 2004 (Israel)

Also Known As:

Die syrische Braut

Filming Locations:

Galilee, Israel

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$7,235 (USA) (18 November 2005)

Gross:

$375,574 (USA) (23 June 2006)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Eran Riklis Productions, Neue Impuls Film, MACT Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie joke about gap-toothed men being seductive to women was an in-joke by the co-scriptwriter Suha Arraf, toward Mr. Riklis, who is himself gap-toothed. She also included many of her own experiences as an intelligent independent Arab woman living in Israel.

---

Goofs

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

User Reviews

An Insight to the Conflicting Problems in the Middle East

THE SYRIAN BRIDE would probably best be appreciated by those who understand the intricacies of border rules and inter-country regulations that dominate the plot of this well made but a bit obtuse film.

The story takes place on the wedding day of a beautiful bride, a Druze woman in Majd Alshams, a pro-Syrian village located in the conflicted Golan heights (factions pro-Syrian and pro-Israeli live uncomfortably in Druze villages). Our bride is to marry (by arrangement - she has never met him) a Syrian TV soap opera celebrity. The problem arises in that this will be the last time that she sees her family as once she crosses the border into Syria accepting Syrian citizenship, she can never return to the Golan Heights to see her family. The wedding is further complicated by the return visit of her brother who has been away for 8 years having married a Russian by whom he has a son: the brother and the son are in conflict. And to make things worse, the paperwork at the border to allow the bride to join her husband to be in the wedding is held up by political paperwork. How all of these factors impact the bride's future is played out by the families on both sides.

The script tries to make the story seem credible but to those of us who still don't understand the intricacies of the territorial parceling of that area of the world or the traditions of Arab marriage etc, this plot seems ponderous and heavy. The actors are all excellent and there is something in each character with which we can identify. A little background on customs before the film begins would have helped immensely as the movie itself is very well done. Grady Harp