Caution: This Might Contain Spoilers!
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Part of autobiographical tale of author Rula Jebreal (based on her book Miral: A Novel). After the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the Der Yassin Massacure, and the establishment of Israel as a state (1948) a young woman, Hind Husseini, on her way to work finds 55 orphans on the street and takes them with her. She begins an orphanage called Dar Al-Tifel in her grandfather's mansion. The battle with Israelis and Arabics continues, and 55 orphans becomes 2,000. The orphanage manages to survive without political interference and protects and educates Arabic children.
In 1978, Miral was brought to Dar Al-Tifel after her mother's death. (Her mother ran away from an abusive father and met a friend in prison. Through this friend she found her husband, but found that she could not mentally escape her past.) Miral grew up, and in 1988 at the age of 15, was sent to teach children at a refugee camp. This allowed her to see the turmoil of the war. At the age of 17, she falls for Hani, a fighter for the Arabics. This forces her to choose between fighting for Arabic rights and land, or finding a way to survive during times of war.
Okay, a lot to describe for an introduction. This film was directed by Julian Schnabel. He's not a popular director, but he has made some interesting films. This one is part autobiographical, part historical, and part social rights. This film has a lot of genere's with little direction. The film was slightly misrepresented with the opening line: "Does this look the face of a terrorist?" It only plays a small part of the film. The biographical part needed to include the historical references to the orphanage and her parents. The first roughly thirty minutes is used to explain all this introduction to the leading character. It's starts the film off as hectic. Once the main character finally takes the lead in the film, the story takes off. She's not written as what is commonly seen in most modern characters today. Instead of standing for something through out the whole film, she is just placed into situations by the people she meets. She is also merely trying to survive the Israeli government rule. Since the story covers so much, even before the main character appears, its hard to understand the true meaning of the film. Even though there is a lot in the story, it still creates a deep meaning. It presents Arabic rights and women's right. That being said, the camera visualizations were amazing. At times it was a little overdone, but it added more depth to the nearly lifeless characters. More of the characters was told through the camera work than the dialogue. There was an authentic-ness to the backdrop which made the film feel more realistic. It is amazing what filming on location can do to help a film.
This film had a good cast of actors. They did give a powerful performance that was hindered by the lack of open dialogue. Freida Pinto played the role of Miral. She was good at portraying her character. It is also amazing how much she resembles Rula Jebreal. A lot of her characters conflicts are used in the camera angles, and her facial expressions. Hiam Abbass played the role of Hind Husseini. She gave her character amazing power even as she aged. Her face didn't change much, but she placed a lot of power within her words. She created a woman trying to protect her people from death or neglect. Alexander Siddig played the role Jamal (Miral's father). He was good at his role. He created the sympathetic character who only wants his daughter to survive. He wasn't given much chance to portray anything else. Yasmin Elmasri played the role of Nadia (Miral's mother). She was great in her role. Through physical movements she created a character that was ruined by life. Stella Schnabel played the role of Lisa. She was good in her general role as a friend to Miral. She appeared more American than Israeli though. Omar Metwally played the role of Hani. It is unfortunate that his character was so limited in the film. He did good for the few minutes he was on screen.
I give this film a 3 out of 5 stars! It has so much potential to be a powerful story, but its too bogged down with too much historical information to include. It's lack of focus causes the film to fall apart in the opening. The creative camerawork saves a lot of the story that the dialogue fails to tell.
Answer to last blog: Actress Laurie Holden, from Silent Hill, is known for her character role of Andrea from The Walking Dead.
Que: What other role is actress Freida Pinto known for?
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Munich
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Caramel
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