It is Difficult to recommend over the film "Omar" . The Palestinian Movie, who took the Jury Prize " Certain Regard " at Cannes last year and is among the five finalists for the Oscar for best foreign film , is quite impressive thriller , but also one- sided in a manner that creating alienation from the characters leading it.
"Omar" is the fifth full-length film of the Palestinian director Hany Abu - Assad and the first film entirely funded by Palestinian Authority .Abu - Assad won acclaim for his film " Paradise Now ," which was nominated for an Oscar foreign film in 2005. As "Paradise Now ," which use generic conventions of suspense and crime to describe a plot about two young Palestinians who plan to carry out a suicide bombing in Israel, " Omar " uses the same conventions and creates an exciting and accessible film, which holds a clear political message .
The film tells the story of Omar (an impressive debut of Adam Bakri, the son of actor and director Mohammad Bakri), a young Palestinian, who with his two friends , Amjad and Tariq , performs an assassination of an Israeli soldier . Omar is arrested by the Shin Bet and asked to cooperate in order to incriminate his friends and thus save himself from prison and reunite with his beloved Nadia, sister of Tariq, which may be involved in a romantic triangle with his friend Amjad .
If the plot sounds similar to the Israeli film " Bethlehem " , it is indeed because it's similar in many forms . As " Bethlehem ", This film also describes a relationship between a young Palestinian and GSS agent and the double life which forced over the Palestinian to conduct in order to maneuver between loyalty to his friends and satisfy the demands of his operator's agent . The problem in "Omar" is that unlike " Bethlehem " it presents an unilateral presentation of the conflict , which makes the Israeli side look like a demonic monster that abuse Palestinians for pleasure (two key scenes in the movie showing casual abuse of soldiers in Omar and atrocious abuse of the GSS agent at Omar during interrogation) and the separation barrier as an obstacle placed randomly for no reason in the middle of the village and designed solely to disrupt the lives of the Palestinians.
Although the film have some harsh internal criticism over the violence and conservatism in Palestinian society , this party presented both over his advantages and disadvantages ,unlike the one-sided presentation of the Israeli occupier which makes it somewhat of a propaganda film .
To his credit, the film is expertly directed and despite a certain tendency to melodramatic moments and repetition of key scenes , it is interesting viewing experience contains a small number of surprising narrative twists , suspenseful chase scenes and a high production level . The film's final scene where Omar performs the final election over his loyalties , may divide the audience , but also leave him with a rather bitter taste in the mouth.
"Omar" is the fifth full-length film of the Palestinian director Hany Abu - Assad and the first film entirely funded by Palestinian Authority .Abu - Assad won acclaim for his film " Paradise Now ," which was nominated for an Oscar foreign film in 2005. As "Paradise Now ," which use generic conventions of suspense and crime to describe a plot about two young Palestinians who plan to carry out a suicide bombing in Israel, " Omar " uses the same conventions and creates an exciting and accessible film, which holds a clear political message .
The film tells the story of Omar (an impressive debut of Adam Bakri, the son of actor and director Mohammad Bakri), a young Palestinian, who with his two friends , Amjad and Tariq , performs an assassination of an Israeli soldier . Omar is arrested by the Shin Bet and asked to cooperate in order to incriminate his friends and thus save himself from prison and reunite with his beloved Nadia, sister of Tariq, which may be involved in a romantic triangle with his friend Amjad .
If the plot sounds similar to the Israeli film " Bethlehem " , it is indeed because it's similar in many forms . As " Bethlehem ", This film also describes a relationship between a young Palestinian and GSS agent and the double life which forced over the Palestinian to conduct in order to maneuver between loyalty to his friends and satisfy the demands of his operator's agent . The problem in "Omar" is that unlike " Bethlehem " it presents an unilateral presentation of the conflict , which makes the Israeli side look like a demonic monster that abuse Palestinians for pleasure (two key scenes in the movie showing casual abuse of soldiers in Omar and atrocious abuse of the GSS agent at Omar during interrogation) and the separation barrier as an obstacle placed randomly for no reason in the middle of the village and designed solely to disrupt the lives of the Palestinians.
Although the film have some harsh internal criticism over the violence and conservatism in Palestinian society , this party presented both over his advantages and disadvantages ,unlike the one-sided presentation of the Israeli occupier which makes it somewhat of a propaganda film .
To his credit, the film is expertly directed and despite a certain tendency to melodramatic moments and repetition of key scenes , it is interesting viewing experience contains a small number of surprising narrative twists , suspenseful chase scenes and a high production level . The film's final scene where Omar performs the final election over his loyalties , may divide the audience , but also leave him with a rather bitter taste in the mouth.