Free Zone (2005)

Two women embark on a road trip after they are brought together by circumstance. Rebecca (Portman) flees her hotel after a fight with her mother-in-law (Maura) and hails a taxi driven by Hanna (Lazlo).

Director:

Amos Gitai

Writers:

Amos Gitai, Marie-Jose Sanselme

Stars:

Natalie Portman, Hana Laszlo, Hiam Abbass

1 win & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview:
Natalie Portman	...	Rebecca
Hana Laszlo	...	Hanna Ben Moshe (as Hanna Laszlo)
Hiam Abbass	...	Leila
Carmen Maura	...	Mrs. Breitberg
Makram Khoury	...	Samir aka "The American"
Aki Avni	...	Julio
Uri Klauzner	...	Moshe Ben Moshe
Liron Levo	...	Border Security
Tomer Russo	...	Border Security
Adnan Tarabshi	...	Petrol Station Owner
Shredi Jabarin	...	Walid (as Shredy Gabarin)
Kobi Lieber	...	Radio Narrator (voice)

Storyline

The confused American Rebecca has left USA to live in Jordan. After breaking her engagement with her Israeli boyfriend, she asks the Israeli taxi driver Hanna to take her anywhere but the place where she is. Hanna tells her that she needs to go Jordan's Free Zone, a place surrounded by Syria, Iraq and South Arabia, to receive US$ 30,000.00 that the Palestinian partner of her husband called "The American" owes to him. When they arrive in the location, they do not find the "The American" but a Palestinian woman called Leila. Hanna forces Leila to take her to meet "The American" in his Oasis, but when they arrive there, she is informed that his son has burnt the place, stolen the money and crossed the border.

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Plot Keywords:

american | palestinian | jordan | taxi | israeli | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Details

Country:

Israel Belgium France Spain

Language:

English Hebrew Arabic Spanish

Release Date:

7 April 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Serbest bölge

Filming Locations:

Free Zone, Jordan

Box Office

Budget:

$1,234,567 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$8,618 (USA) (7 April 2006)

Gross:

$32,381 (USA) (28 July 2006)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Agat Films & Cie, Agav Films, Artémis

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

First Israeli movie shot in Jordan.

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Goofs

When the vehicle is just approaching the border crossing near the end of the film (1:23:00 on the DVD) we can see the silhouette of someone wearing a baseball cap moving about in the back of the vehicle.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Rebecca: [after prolonged sitting in car crying] Can we go? Can we leave this place? Please.
Hanna: Where to?
Rebecca: I don't know. Let's get out of here, please.

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Soundtracks

"Had Gadia"
(traditional)

User Reviews

a great parabol

Unlike some other people, I did find this movie to be a great one. Amos Gitaï show us the middle east complexity through three beautiful characters, one Israelian, one Palestinian and one American with Jewish extracts. Those three women are supposed to represent three "forces" who can play a part in the situation over there : Israel, Palestine and the "international community" represented by Natalie Portman's character Rebecca. Rebecca appears to be just a witness to what is happening. Although she tries to get involved and to ease the conflict down her efforts remain without effect. The movie shows as well that Israelians and Palestinians could talk to each other instead of getting at war. They have quite the same problems, they live on the same land, they are quite the same people, they have quite the same cultural background. but some have to forget about their fear and parano while the others need to stop fanatism growing within their ranks. Amos Gitaï wants to show us as well that Israelians should accept to talk to moderate Palestinians. It's the only way to move towards a better tomorrow otherwise fanatics will be their only opponents and there will be no possible dialogue. Some people here have not understood a thing in the movie. I read two main wrong critics. One was about the language used in the movie. It seemed disturbing for some people that the movie is not only in English. But truth is not everybody in the world speaks English ! In Israel, the official language is Hebrew. Palestinians speak Arabic. So it's normal that those three languages (with English) are used and spoken in the movie. Otherwise it would be just sci-fi or American fantasm ! The other thing is about Rebecca's crying at the beginning of the movie. She does not cry about her loss. She and we don't give a damn about this loss. As a near to be witness of the situation in the Middle East, she cries about that, about her uselessness, about the vicious circle which make good people killing each others. That's why as well she leaves running at the end of the movie because she can't help Israel and Palestine to get along. She can't understand their fighting. Thank you Mister Amos Gitaï.