Lemon Tree
Monday, Feb. 25th at 6:00 p.m at Russell Union Theater
The story of a Palestinian widow who must defend her lemon tree field when a new Israeli Defense Minister moves next to her and threatens to have her lemon grove torn down. (Arabic and Hebrew with English subtitles, 1hr. 46 min., 2008)
باسم الله
ReplyDeleteThis movie was very good from the beginning through the ending. It allowed us as Americans to observe some of the ways Palestinians can be treated by the Israeli defense department. I never really thought of trees being anything more than plants but this movie illustrated a new outlook on them especially since the Palestinian lady and her helper had worked the land with their own hands for so long. It must be so rewarding to watch a tree that you have devoted so much time and effort into grow and develop into something beautiful. However, it would also be devastating to see that same tree slowly die and wither and know that you are prohibited from taking care of it. I understand where the Defense Minister's Secret Service were coming from in their argument about how terrorists could hide in the grove and attack the Defense Minister's house. Yet, the Lemon grove had been there for like fifty years, the lady who owned it, inherited it and took care of it as well. I feel the Defense Minister could have improved his surveillance system instead of fencing in the trees and placing guard towers everywhere but the only knowledge I have on the situation is from the movie so the presence of danger may have been different in reality. I felt that the ending was sad but that seems to coincide with the other Arabic films we've viewed by portraying a very real outcome to stories instead of always being a happy ending. Everyone wants to see a happy ending but it causes us to lose touch with reality. Overall, this film was very entertaining and the crew did a great job of acting.
عبد الله
The film was well executed and gives a realistic portal of the ongoing dilemma between Palestine and Israel. The film also shows the viewer, that in conflict there are no winners. I however personally hated the movie. If I wanted to see a story with a negative ending, I could just watch the news. The way in which the old friend/relative threatened the widow is typical of negative stereotypes of Arab culture. In my mind this only strengthens the idea that men in the Middle East are intolerant of women's freedoms. While I recognize the honorable intentions behind the visit, that one scene ruined the entire movie for me.
ReplyDeleteJohn D Howard Jr.
Arabic 2002
Before I watched this film I had no idea that Israel and Palestine had issues with each other. I would like to learn the history behind that. The movies that I see in America also make Arab women seem very passive and not very confident. I liked how this film proved otherwise about women in the middle east.Salma fought very hard to keep her lemon trees from being uprooted. The area that the film took place in also looked very dried out and barren. It didn't look like a very pleasant place to live. I also enjoyed how I could understand some of the words that were spoken throughout the movie. This obviously proves that studying never fails!!!
ReplyDeleteThis was an amazing film. I knew it was an Israeli and Palestinian movie but I did not know that the director/screenwriter was actually Israeli. This really surprised me because we don't hear about stuff like that. This put the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a different perspective for me. I'm used to hear the political argument and conflicts but never heard of how it affected individuals from both sides. It did have a sad ending but it is realistic and shows how everything does not always have a happy Hollywood ending.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth Gunnels
Arabic 1002
I really liked this movie.The writers really did capure the conflict between the two ethnic groups. Although I think its time for a comedy or action movie now all these personal ones mae me cry LOL. I also like how the movie in a way subconciously breaks down the views that all Israeli People hate Palestinian and vis versa. Many people in the world think this way but the way the two women grow togeter and fight together is remarkable. When I first started watching the film you could feel the tension and the awkwardness but as it continued you began to feel a close tie with the characters. I would definitely recommend this movie and I think I will watch it with my mom tonight.
ReplyDeleteIn reply to John Howard, with the possible exception of Salma's lawyer, nearly all the men in this movie are portrayed as threatening, and the lawyer is a philanderer. The scene where Mina goes to Salma's house and her bodyguard stops her? When he asks her to be reasonable, the camera is directly on the gun at his hip. It was really very disheartening to see Mina and Salma want to work out their differences so much, and the many different threats they both have to deal with, and how a solution that is both peaceful and respectful of the rights of both sides becomes increasingly impossible because of those threats. I don't think the point here is that Arabs are bad, because the Israeli men are just as awful. The point seems to be encapsulated in one of Mina's lines, when she speaks to the press saying she'd like to be a better neighbor to Salma. A normal neighbor, and she looks at her husband and says maybe it's too much to hope for. Her husband is the defense minister, and just in case that symbolism is unclear, his name is Israel. It's not the fact that your neighbors are Palestinian or Israeli that is the issue. It's interference in your ability to be a good neighbor by the government. Israel(the man) could have stopped the whole proceeding at any time, simply by saying it was unnecessary to cut the trees down. He doesn't because he's acting as defense minister, not as a good neighbor. The threat to Salma from the older man isn't about Arab men. He's obviously got some local influence, and his threats are not about Salma personally, but to try to get her to a)stop the court proceedings and b)not take the reparations the Israeli government is offering her(which she is too attached to the grove to do anyway). He can't threaten her away from those things, as they are completely legal, so he uses the personal tack to try and frighten her. I think in essence this movie is saying that governments should maybe sit down, shut up, and listen to the people actually living side by side. It uses the dichotomy between men and women to highlight that, but I don't think the condemnation is actually about race or gender.
ReplyDeleteTwo things I really liked about this movie. Salma was raised by her father and a male family friend, and no one so much as bats an eye. As a single parent, I know raising a child alone is hard, and I was pleased to see that this arrangement didn't bring any censure. The other was how amazing Salma's hospitality was. When the reporter comes to her house the morning after the soldiers trash it and startles her awake, it takes her 30 seconds to recover and be amazingly courteous. I would not have that ability, and I so admire her strength.