| Overall Grade: |
A |
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| Story: |
A |
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| Acting: |
A- |
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| Direction: |
A |
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| Visuals: |
A- |
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Attempted Balance and Unusual Depth
by Speedy (movies profile)
Jun 17, 2007
440
of
573 people found this review helpful
This movie attempts to illuminate both sides of Israel's conflict. While the focus is on Israeli actions and choices, Palestinian and Arab motivations are present throughout the work. For me, Speilberg's treatment of both sides was an attempt at balance. Neither side is commended or exaulted for their behavior. Instead, the film attempts to generally question the nature of their decisions and acts.
If this film does make any stance on Israel and Palestine, it makes a general condemnation of the violence on both sides. Speilberg goes through great lengths to show the cycle of violence - lamenting the perpetual loss of life in violent conflict.
The film's conclusion extends Speilberg's effort to question violence and its role in human affairs. The protagonist chooses against returning home - he lives in exile. The cycle of violence has taken a toll on him.
I'm unclear in deciding whether the protagonist approves or condemns of his own choices. But I do believe that he realizes that violence is not a future solution.
I think that this was a geniune attempt at thoughtful reflection of the consequences of violent conflict. For a mainstream movie, this had unusual depth. I felt that there was an honest attempt to depict both sides as human beings - with rational, legitmate values and motivations.
I would encourage anyone to see this film. Audiences should try to analyze both the film's perspective and their our own beliefs on the real world content behind the work. Any film that can spark people to pose these serious questions deserves attention.
Postscript:
Reading over previous user reviews, I'm surprised at the lack of actual discussion. Many of the negative reviews for this movie provided generalized condemnation of the film for "Zionist" purposes. These reviews offered little discussion of how Zionism was actually depicted in the film. For me, I felt that Zionism and its merit was questioned in the work. Not universally promoted. |
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