Lemon Tree (2008)

The story of a Palestinian widow who must defend her lemontree field when a new Israeli Defense Minister moves next to her and threatens to have her lemon grove torn down.

Director:

Eran Riklis

Writers:

Suha Arraf (screenplay), Eran Riklis (screenplay)

Stars:

Hiam Abbass, Rona Lipaz-Michael, Ali Suliman

8 wins & 12 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Hiam Abbass	...	Salma Zidane
Rona Lipaz-Michael	...	Mira Navon
Ali Suliman	...	Ziad Daud
Doron Tavory	...	Defense Minister Israel Navon
Tarik Kopty	...	Abu Hussam (as Tarik Copti)
Amos Lavi	...	Commander Jacob (as Amos Lavie)
Amnon Wolf	...	Leibowitz
Liron Baranes	...	Gilad
Smadar Jaaron	...	Tamar Gera (as Smadar Yaaron)
Danny Leshman	...	Private Itamar 'Quickie'
Ayelet Robinson	...	Shelly
Amos Tamam	...	Simon Hasson
Loai Nofi	...	Nasser Zidane (as Loai Noufi)
Hili Yalon	...	Sigi Navon
Makram Khoury	...	Abu Kamal (as Makram J. Khoury)

Storyline

Salma Zidane, a widow, lives simply from her grove of lemon trees in the West Bank's occupied territory. The Israeli defense minister and his wife move next door; the Secret Service orders the trees removed for security. The stoic Salma seeks assistance from the Palestinian Authority (useless), Israeli army (dismissive), and a young attorney, Ziad Daud, who takes the case; this older client attracts him. While the courts deliberate, the Israelis fence her trees and prohibit her from entering the grove. As the trees wither, the defense minister's wife and, separately, an Israeli journalist, look on Salma with sympathy. In this allegory, does David stand a chance against Goliath?

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Plot Keywords:

israeli arab relations | climbing a fence | grove | trees | lemon | 

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Taglines:

An analogy on the Gaza strip wall.

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Spain] Official site [France]

Country:

Israel Germany France

Language:

Arabic Hebrew English

Release Date:

27 March 2008 (Israel)

Also Known As:

Lemon Tree

Filming Locations:

Djelazoun, West Bank, Israel

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$14,602, 19 April 2009

Gross USA:

$569,672

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$7,387,488

Company Credits

Production Co:

Heimatfilm, MACT Productions, Eran Riklis Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Title Card: [last title card]
[after the end credits]
Title Card: Lemon tree very pretty and the lemon flower is sweet but the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat.

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Crazy Credits

After the end credits are over, the theme song's chorus "Lemon tree very pretty and the lemon flower is sweet but the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat" is shown on screen.

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Connections

References Desperate Housewives (2004)

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Soundtracks

Everything Is Open
Written by Naomi Shemer
Performed by Einat Saruf, The Minister of Defense and all the party guests
Arranged by Tamir Harpaz

User Reviews

A very good small film

Lemon Tree is a very good small film. I am not familiar with Israeli & Palestinian culture further than what is told everyday on the news and all. Is a surprisingly good film. It uses various filmmaking techniques to make the story as thematic as possible. The predominant green and light-green colors in the art direction's palette scheme, for example - remind us the color of the lemon. The story itself can be seen as an allegory to the conflicts between Palestinians and Israeli. They both wants different things from a same tree, and they fight until no tomorrow to 'make their wishes come true'. Even a perhaps "small thing' can turn into a national problem. Also, the character development is just fine, and so is the acting. It goes overly dramatic a little bit, but nothing than can diminishes the qualities of the film.