Zaytoun (2012)

Beirut, 1982: a young Palestinian refugee and an Israeli fighter pilot form a tentative bond in their attempt to make their way across war-torn Lebanon back to their home.

Director:

Eran Riklis

Writer:

Nader Rizq (screenplay)

Stars:

Stephen Dorff, Abdallah El Akal, Ali Suliman

1 win.

Cast

Credited cast:
Stephen Dorff	...	Yoni
Abdallah El Akal	...	Fahed
Ali Suliman	...	Syrian Officer
Alice Taglioni	...	Leclair
Loai Nofi	...	Aboudi
Tarik Kopty	...	Seedo (as Tarik Kopti)
Ashraf Barhom	...	Plo Fighter
Mira Awad	...	Im Ahmed
Jony Arbid	...	Abu Fahed (as Joni Arbib)
Ashraf Farah	...	Khaled
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Adham Abu Aqel	...	Ahmed
Nidal Badarneh	...	Mustafa
Hezi Gangina	...	Casanova
Morad Hassan	...	Rami
Michel Khoury

Storyline

Beirut, 1982: a young Palestinian refugee and an Israeli fighter pilot form a tentative bond in their attempt to make their way across war-torn Lebanon back to their home.

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Plot Keywords:

israeli | pilot | palestinian | refugee | lebanon | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Thriller | War

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Details

Country:

UK Israel

Language:

English Arabic Hebrew

Release Date:

26 December 2012 (UK)

Also Known As:

Le'hishaer ba'hayim

Filming Locations:

Israel

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bedlam Productions, Far Films, H.W. Buffalo & Co

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

While not explicitly stated in the film, the word "zaytoun" is Arabic for "olive", and refers to the tree that Fahed carries.

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Soundtracks

"Zaytoun"
Written and arranged by Peter Liddle
Performed by Dry the River
Courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment UK Ltd/RCA Victor
Published by Transgressive Publishing Ltd. administered by Warner/Chappell Limited

User Reviews

Common goals can make even worst enemies best friends

This story takes place in 1982, and is about the young boy, Fahed (Abdallah El Akal), whose family has suffered a lot because of the war in Beirut. One day, an Israeli fighter pilot, Yoni (Stephen Dorff), is captured by the local forces, and Fahed sees and opportunity to free the pilot, so he can take him back to his former home, where his father wanted to plant the family's olive-tree, but never had the chance to do so, because of the war.

At first, the two are mortal enemies, only working together because they need each other to reach their individual goals: Fahed wants to return back to his old family home, and Yoni wants to escape from prison, where he is bound to be tortured and interrogated, before he is used politically to exchange prisoners from the Israelis.

But along the way, the two form a tight friendship, where they both save each others lives on numerous occasions, until they (hopefully) reach their goals. It just goes to show, that even during the worst situations, friendships can arise when you are able to look past ones differences, and instead focus on common interests and dreams.

This is the newest movie from director Eran Riklis (Etz Limon, The Syrian Bride), and he still manages to make very interesting movies on highly debated subjects about the situation in Israel and the middle east in general. The acting from the leading actors is very impressive as well, especially from the young El Akal, who should have a long career ahead of him. It is also a quite interesting turn from the otherwise rather mainstream actor, Stephen Dorff, who most people probably know best from action-films like "Blade", "Public Enemies" and "Felon".

A highly recommended film, which also can be used for educational purposes. 8/10.