I started watching this movie knowing only that it was going to be about dissidents protesting or fighting back against Israeli people and military. What it is really about is that Israel basically claimed land for itself and built a barrier around that land, when a local village traditionally considered the same land their own and the villagers lived off the land by foraging for food on the trees. The villagers start protesting every Friday, and the narrator starts filming it and other local events involving Israelis.
So with that in mind, at first I felt like the movie is biased and leading. At one point early on the narrator says "Gibreel's first words were a joyous event" or something like that, and then the next thing shown is his son Gibreel saying "wall" (referring to the Israeli-built barrier around the narrator's village) while walking outside near the wall...except in the same scene the son is speaking several other words...i felt like that is leading the viewer when that was almost definitely not when Gibreel spoke his first words.
But then the thoughts of bias give way to the shocking events that take place during the film. If you know about the stuff that goes on over there involving Israel and the occupied territories, it isn't surprising per se...Israel is so hated over there...but seeing several people shot, and at least one killed on camera is pretty intense.
I'd rather not pick sides on what is right or wrong in the actions that take place, because although the narrator claims they are non-violent there are many instances of rocks being thrown at people and especially cars...so many rocks are thrown at the cars at the same time in one moment that you can really see how much the Israelis are hated by a lot of the local people...and who knows what isn't shown in the movie.
Instead I'll just say that this is a very interesting documentary and if you are interested in that area of the world, or if you just enjoy seeing a part of the world you don't normally get a glimpse of, I highly recommend checking this documentary out.
So with that in mind, at first I felt like the movie is biased and leading. At one point early on the narrator says "Gibreel's first words were a joyous event" or something like that, and then the next thing shown is his son Gibreel saying "wall" (referring to the Israeli-built barrier around the narrator's village) while walking outside near the wall...except in the same scene the son is speaking several other words...i felt like that is leading the viewer when that was almost definitely not when Gibreel spoke his first words.
But then the thoughts of bias give way to the shocking events that take place during the film. If you know about the stuff that goes on over there involving Israel and the occupied territories, it isn't surprising per se...Israel is so hated over there...but seeing several people shot, and at least one killed on camera is pretty intense.
I'd rather not pick sides on what is right or wrong in the actions that take place, because although the narrator claims they are non-violent there are many instances of rocks being thrown at people and especially cars...so many rocks are thrown at the cars at the same time in one moment that you can really see how much the Israelis are hated by a lot of the local people...and who knows what isn't shown in the movie.
Instead I'll just say that this is a very interesting documentary and if you are interested in that area of the world, or if you just enjoy seeing a part of the world you don't normally get a glimpse of, I highly recommend checking this documentary out.