This is not a good film; it is a very, very, good film. Here in the US the Palestinians are painted as pure hateful terrorists killing teenagers in pizza shops. This film is able to show that even suicide bombers are people. The prospective bomber's (Tarek) parents are shown as loving parents and not as fanatics praising dead martyrs and happy if their sons can achieve martyrdom. Tarek himself is a multi-faceted individual, not a focused uneducated fanatic. What I found most interesting are his motives - they have nothing do to with Islam, rather, he is motivated by a sense of family, honor, love of father, and hatred for those that caused the "downfall" of his family and his loss of the opportunity to play soccer. Although his "handlers" are short-sighted and evil people, they make an interesting point when they say "We (the Palestinians) have no Air Force." Indeed, they fight with the few weapons they have. If they had the hardware (and perhaps it is better that they don't), software and training the Israelis have, then their strategy would be quite different.
I also liked very much the portrayal of the Israelis. Here we see that they are a complex hardly homogeneous people. Some are disgruntled refugees from other countries and not happy in Israel, some are intolerant believers, some are border atheists, some are smart, some are not so smart, some are trusting, some are suspicious, etc. I especially liked that it portrays the working class area and people of Tel Aviv - a nice change from the million dollar condos on the sea full of American Jews that we normally see on American TV.
The acting is tremendous. You sympathize with most every character because the acting is so believable. You don't want any Israeli to die because you see them as real (and innocent) people. You also don't want Tarek to die because he also is real and innocent. Also he is torn between his hatred of all Israelis on one hand while on the other hand he has feelings of no hatred, even love, for those Israelis he meets and gets to know in just a few days.
But most of all I so enjoyed Hili Yalon as Keren. One can get lost in her beautiful eyes. Her acting is suburb. She represents so many things - vulnerability, love of parents, non-conformity, naivety, etc.
See this film; you won't regret it.
I also liked very much the portrayal of the Israelis. Here we see that they are a complex hardly homogeneous people. Some are disgruntled refugees from other countries and not happy in Israel, some are intolerant believers, some are border atheists, some are smart, some are not so smart, some are trusting, some are suspicious, etc. I especially liked that it portrays the working class area and people of Tel Aviv - a nice change from the million dollar condos on the sea full of American Jews that we normally see on American TV.
The acting is tremendous. You sympathize with most every character because the acting is so believable. You don't want any Israeli to die because you see them as real (and innocent) people. You also don't want Tarek to die because he also is real and innocent. Also he is torn between his hatred of all Israelis on one hand while on the other hand he has feelings of no hatred, even love, for those Israelis he meets and gets to know in just a few days.
But most of all I so enjoyed Hili Yalon as Keren. One can get lost in her beautiful eyes. Her acting is suburb. She represents so many things - vulnerability, love of parents, non-conformity, naivety, etc.
See this film; you won't regret it.