Wonderful short film that follows two young friends in Palenstine, one Palestinian and the other Isreali. This film is powerful and beautifully acted. I've seen Avital (who plays the Isreali girl, Rachel) in a couple of other indie films and in a play in LA, she is consistently good. The actress who plays Ayat, the Palestinian girl, is quite good as well. It is no surprise that this film has won awards at several film festivals. I have seen very few short film that feel this effective and complete. Take a moment and check it out -- if you google the title, you can find it viewable on a few different short-film websites.
2 Reviews
Good point, bad construction
Polaris_DiB21 May 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Man, reviewing movies like these is always hard for me, because on one hand it's sentiment and point is very important, and I agree with what the movie has to say, but on the other hand its so heavy-handed and ridiculously crafted that I can't really just say it's good and move on with it. To be sure, shorts like these are important social documents that comment on themes that people could use to understand (most say they do, but obviously few actually do). On the other hand, this is impersonal television re-enactment-style drama that looks more like the director is asking to be regarded as an important social commentator than actually one who is making social commentary.
The moment with the flowers and the bomb is most revealing of this. Flowers, and bomb--two symbols, nigh universal, to understand the dialog of what is happening with the characters. However, in order to do it, there's a continuity error over where the one female's hands are. Minor mistake? Not worth noting, because of the importance of what is being said? Or, perhaps, it shows a film so eager to punch in its point that it contradicts itself.
The story is of two girls, one Israelite and one Palistinian, who are friends from childhood until tragedy strikes and they end up becoming enemies. The two of them struggle to come to terms with their respective loses and the hatred that drives their community, but ultimately are never able to reclaim the "innocence" that was "stolen." To be sure, I have no qualms against what this movie was trying to do. I just think that the topic deserves much more subtlety and less aggressive approach.
--PolarisDiB
The moment with the flowers and the bomb is most revealing of this. Flowers, and bomb--two symbols, nigh universal, to understand the dialog of what is happening with the characters. However, in order to do it, there's a continuity error over where the one female's hands are. Minor mistake? Not worth noting, because of the importance of what is being said? Or, perhaps, it shows a film so eager to punch in its point that it contradicts itself.
The story is of two girls, one Israelite and one Palistinian, who are friends from childhood until tragedy strikes and they end up becoming enemies. The two of them struggle to come to terms with their respective loses and the hatred that drives their community, but ultimately are never able to reclaim the "innocence" that was "stolen." To be sure, I have no qualms against what this movie was trying to do. I just think that the topic deserves much more subtlety and less aggressive approach.
--PolarisDiB
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