Omar, a Palestinian film directed by Hany Abu-Assad, was released in the United States this February and nominated for Best Foreign Language film at the 86th Academy Awards.
At the Cannes Film Festival it won the Jury Prize, and the film was the official selection of both the New York and Toronto Film Festivals.
In Israel, however, the film, as expected, received more varying reviews. The Israeli- Palestinian conflict provides the backdrop for this drama, so this comes as no surprise.
In the film, three childhood friends create a resistance group and attack Israeli soldiers. When they shoot an Israeli soldier, protagonist Omar, a member of the resistance group and a baker, is imprisoned by Israeli intelligence.
For the entirety of the film, Omar is caught between the motives of two opposing forces, in the midst of which he desperately tries to hold onto his own desires and hopes, which are built around the girl he loves, Nadya.
Omar yearns to leave this relationship untainted by the situation he has found himself in. He and Nadya, the sister of one of his accomplices, hope for a future together. Their moments together are at first simple and sweet. They give each other notes to express their feelings and barely ever touch; their emotions are shown with smiles and tilts of the head. The purity of their relationship offers a strong juxtaposition to the violence Omar faces when he leaves Nadya and returns to the difficult situation he is caught in.
The nature of the shots change from being slow and lingering to fast and violent. As the film progresses, however, the stark contrast between the ruthless violence of the military police and the serenity of first love begins to dissipate, and the two begin to interact.
Shots of the quiet moments Omar and Nadya share become tense. This has a jarring effect as the viewer is thrown between two spheres along with Omar. This separation is further embodied in the separation wall that Omar uses a rope to climb over in order to see Nadya. The wall represents the barrier between Israel and Palestine as well as the inevitable barrier between Nadya and Omar that is a result of his political actions. While at the start of the film Omar is fit to climb the wall without much thought, by the end of the film he struggles to make it across.
It is the emotional tension that exists between Omar, Nadya, and his other accomplices that differentiates the film from other political dramas. Within the tense environment there lies a story of love and friendship.
“You want to make a movie that survives the conflict, after 20 years or 100 years still seems a good movie. That is why I think really the film is not about the conflict; it’s really about love, friendship, and betrayal and about the genre thriller,” Director Abu-Assad said to the Los Angeles Times.
It is exactly this focus on love and an aspiration for a peaceful life that exemplifies the adverse effects of the violent political struggle the characters find themselves in. As Omar discovers, there cannot be a separation between one’s personal desires and an intruding environment. The audience feels the characters’ frustration.
Thus, while the film’s main focus may not be political, it generates more intense awareness of the political setting. The audience is integrated into a real situation in which there is something of great value at stake. It is unbearable and frustrating to think that the relationships formed between the characters are interfered with as a result of the political setting. Events and characters are spun together in a seemingly never-ending spiral, and it is not until the end of the film that there seems to be any firm conclusion. The turmoil evoked in the film comes to a close with an ending that leaves the viewer feeling not necessarily fulfilled but instead powerful and astonished.
