Cast overview: | |||
Maria Zreik | ... | Sr. Marie | |
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Huda Al Imam | ... | Sr. Marie Angeline |
Shady Srour | ... | Moshe | |
Ruth Farhi | ... | Esther | |
Maya Koren | ... | Rachel | |
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Sana Tanous | ... | Sr. Marie Antoinette |
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Maria De Pina | ... | Sr. Marie Josephine |
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Raneen Bisharat Iskandar | ... | Sr. Marie of Christ Crucified |
Nuns of the 'Sisters of Mercy' convent in the middle of the West Bank wilderness have their daily routine of silence and prayer disrupted when a family of religious Israeli settlers crash their car into the convent's wall. The Sabbath is approaching and they need to get home urgently, however, because of the Sabbath laws, the Israelis can't operate a phone to call for assistance, and the Nuns have taken a vow of silence. Together they have to come up with an unorthodox plan to help them get home.
This film was made in the Palestinian territory and is a comedy about three Jewish people who become stranded there when they smash into a statue of the Virgin Mary at a small nunnery. The problem is that the nuns have taken a vow of silence and the Jewish folks are very observant...so strict as Jews that they cannot use telephones to call for help! What are they to do?
I enjoyed this film and it made me smile. I found the ending a bit predictable but a finely acted and clever short. While I don't think it's the very best of these shorts, it is unusual and sometimes happy films have an edge in winning simply because Academy voters seem to prefer nice shorts as opposed to down-beat ones...and three are very, very downbeat.
Whether or not this one wins, I'll update this review about this. If I were a betting man, I'd put my money on this short--though as I said I don't think it's the very best of the lot.
UPDATE: "Stutterer" took the Oscar for Best Live Action Short.