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Syrian Bride

Original title: The Syrian Bride
  • 20042004
  • 1h 37m
IMDb RATING
7.4/10
3.4K
YOUR RATING
Syrian Bride (2004)
Theatrical Trailer from Koch Lorber Films
Play trailer2:04
1 Video
12 Photos
ComedyDrama
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 ... Read allIn 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 occup... Read allIn 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 undefi... Read all
IMDb RATING
7.4/10
3.4K
YOUR RATING
    • Eran Riklis
    • Suha Arraf
    • Eran Riklis
  • Stars
    • Hiam Abbass
    • Makram Khoury
    • Clara Khoury
    • Eran Riklis
    • Suha Arraf
    • Eran Riklis
  • Stars
    • Hiam Abbass
    • Makram Khoury
    • Clara Khoury
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 31User reviews
    • 43Critic reviews
    • 70Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards

    Videos1

    The Syrian Bride
    Trailer 2:04
    Watch The Syrian Bride

    Photos12

    Syrian Bride (2004)
    Clara Khoury in Syrian Bride (2004)
    Hiam Abbass and Clara Khoury in Syrian Bride (2004)
    Syrian Bride (2004)
    Clara Khoury in Syrian Bride (2004)
    Syrian Bride (2004)
    Syrian Bride (2004)
    Marlene Bajali and Clara Khoury in Syrian Bride (2004)
    Syrian Bride (2004)
    Syrian Bride (2004)
    Syrian Bride (2004)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Hiam Abbass
    Hiam Abbass
    • Amal
    • (as Hiyam Abbass)
    Makram Khoury
    Makram Khoury
    • Hammed
    • (as Makram J. Khoury)
    Clara Khoury
    Clara Khoury
    • Mona
    Ashraf Barhom
    Ashraf Barhom
    • Marwan
    • (as Ashraf Barhoum)
    Ali Suliman
    Ali Suliman
    • Syrian Officer 2
    Evelyn Kaplun
    Evelyn Kaplun
    • Evelyna
    • (as Evelyne Kaplun)
    Julie-Anne Roth
    Julie-Anne Roth
    • Jeanne
    Adnan Tarabshi
    • Amin
    • (as Adnan Trabshi)
    Marlene Bajali
    Marlene Bajali
    • The Mother
    • (as Marlene Bajjali)
    Uri Gavriel
    Uri Gavriel
    • Simon
    • (as Uri Gabriel)
    Alon Dahan
    Alon Dahan
    • Arik
    Robert Henig
    • Joseph
    • (as Robert Hoenig)
    Dirar Suleiman
    • Tallel
    Ranin Boulos
    • Mai
    Hanna Abou-Manneh
    • Rama
    Norman Issa
    Norman Issa
    • The Syrian Officer
    Lutuf Nouasser
    Lutuf Nouasser
    • The Senior Elder
    Maisra Masri
    • Fahdi
      • Eran Riklis
      • Suha Arraf
      • Eran Riklis
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Makram Khoury and Clara Khoury are father and daughter in the film as well as in real life.
    • Goofs
      Mona's father says he has raised her for 25 years. However, she states her birth date as November 30th 1976 and the movie is set on July 17th 2000. That would make her only 23 years old.
    • Connections
      Featured in The Making of 'The Syrian Bride' (2005)
    • Soundtracks
      Bride Theme
      Music Composed & Conducted by Cyril Morin

      Performed by Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra-Sif 309

    User reviews31

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    9/10
    A poignant drama
    After Israel took the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 war, 17,000 ethnic Druze, whose people had been living in the area for centuries, suddenly found their lives fractured and their families divided by an impassable border. In spite of substantial economic and educational gains made under Israeli rule, the Druze of the Golan still consider themselves to be Syrians living under Israeli occupation. They do not intermingle with Israelis, refuse to hold Israeli passports, and live in their own villages. A French/German/Israeli co-production, The Syrian Bride tells the story of one such family as they prepare to attend their daughter's wedding on the Syrian border. It is primarily a comedy yet it is also a poignant drama that takes no sides but attempts to put the political turmoil in the region into a humanistic context.

    Mona (Clara Khoury), a young Druze bride is to be wed to Syrian TV-star Tallel (Derar Sliman) from Damascus, a man she has never met. Since neither country recognizes the other diplomatically, once the bride crosses the border to Syria, she will never be allowed to return to Israel and her wedding day, usually a day of great joy, may be one of her saddest. While the film tells us much about the sad realities of the political fragmentation in the Middle East, it is also a story with social and cultural ramifications. Mona's sister Amal (Hiyam Abbas), whose expressive face frames the film's beginning and end, is stuck in an unhappy marriage. She wants to attend Haifa University but is thwarted by her husband Amin (Adnan Trabshi) who is afraid of losing face in the village and of relinquishing "control".

    Mona's father Hammed (Makram Khoury), a pro-Syrian agitator known to Israeli police, is forbidden to travel to the Syrian border to say goodbye to his daughter. He harbors resentment and refuses to welcome his son Hattem (Eyad Sheety) and his Russian wife home from Moscow because he broke family tradition and moved away eight years ago. Another son, Marwan (Ashraf Barhom), a businessman, is welcomed by the family but is rejected by an angry former girlfriend, a French Red Cross worker (Julie-Anne Roth), who works in the village. Mona's character is mostly symbolic and she has little to say, yet the story of the film is written on her face and her lack of dimensionality is more than compensated for by the depth of the supporting characters, particularly Hattem and Amal.

    As these conflicts bubble under the surface, the situation becomes increasingly absurd as the wedding is threatened by bureaucratic intransigence on the border checkpoints between Israel and Syria. Mona's passport has an Israeli stamp on it and, according to Syrian regulations, anyone carrying a passport with an Israeli stamp is denied entry to Syria. Neither Israeli nor Syrian customs officials seem to know what to do and the prospective bride and groom are stuck in a no-man's land, reduced to communicating via bullhorns pressed against locked gates. The Syrian Bride may sound like an exercise in absurdity bordering on farce, yet for the family who may never see their child again, it is a drama of high seriousness. Whether you consider The Syrian Bride to be an allegory, black comedy, family drama, or political statement, the image of a girl sitting alone in a white wedding dress stuck between impenetrable barriers is one that remains.
    helpful•35
    5
    • howard.schumann
    • Jan 22, 2006

    Details

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    • Release date
      • December 2, 2004 (Israel)
      • France
      • Germany
      • Israel
    • Official sites
      • Kino Lorber Films (United States)
      • Océan Films (France)
      • Arabic
      • English
      • Hebrew
      • Russian
      • French
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Golan Heights, Israel
    • Production companies
      • Eran Riklis Productions
      • Neue Impuls Film
      • MACT Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • 1 hour 37 minutes
      • Color
      • Dolby Digital

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