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.

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Plot Keywords:

occupation | apartheid | oppression | wedding dress | druze | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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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.

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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.

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Connections

Referenced in The Syrian Bride: Interview with Hiam Abbass (2005)

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Soundtracks

The Dream
Music Composed & Conducted by Cyril Morin
Performed by Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra-Sif 309

User Reviews

Probably the best Israeli film ever.

The story line touches many open sores afflicting the Israeli society, prejudice towards ethnic minorities, unwillingness of factions in that society to try and understand and accept one another, police bigotry and sheer racism. As an Israeli living abroad I could relate to all of the above. However, you don't have to be from that region to appreciate this moving and powerful Drama. The film basically deals with the horrific struggle of a family, from a marginalised sector of Israeli society, to get their daughter married to a man over the Syrian boarder however, by doing that they will never be able to see her again. A very very emotional and humane film.

Details

Official Sites:

Kino Lorber Films [United States] Océan Films [France]

Country:

France Germany Israel

Language:

Arabic English Hebrew Russian French

Release Date:

2 December 2004 (Israel)

Also Known As:

Syrian Bride

Filming Locations:

Galilee, Israel

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$7,235, 20 November 2005

Gross USA:

$380,505

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,522,967

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