Be Quiet (2005) User Reviews

Where is the rest of it?

[BKinzeys · 6/10 · 26 August 2009]

Nice film, interesting story about a man and his son traveling through Palestine. We see a father & son interaction, problems in travel, get some background on the father & son, a stop at a roadblock, and start what looks to be an interesting story. Then it ends. Abruptly, quite abruptly. So what happened to the rest of the story? Stories don't need to be all tidily wrapped up for me but seriously, this short is like they ran out of money about 2/3 of shooting and ended it right there. I don't think anything that was introduced in this film was concluded at all. It was all left up in the air.

I felt like a hitchhiker being picked up and starting an interesting journey with the father & son. Looks like we will be together for a little ways and suddenly there is a fork in the road and I'm told "Oh, we can no longer go your way. Our direction has changed and we have to drop you off here. Nice to get the ride but disappointed it ended short.

Remarkable vignette: human life in the West Bank and Israel

[user1089r · 10/10 · 3 September 2009]

Excellent slice-of-life short film consisting of a brief voyage which for most people in the world would be of little consequence. But for these two Palestinians, father Mahmmood and son Ibrahim, it is a dangerous and difficult journey not only physically, but psychologically, as son and father together experience a bumpy ride toward the boy's political awareness and maturity on the one hand and, on the other hand, toward a more mature relationship with each other.

This remarkable short provides a poignant and accurate portrayal of life for Arabs in the area with perfect symmetry, setting out the physical and psychological space to be visited, and consequently providing an artful resolution, as life goes on and the developing relationship of father and son passes a milepost of mutual understanding, forever altered.