Entertainment /
Miral – Hopes For Peace
Julian Schnabel's Miral traces the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the lives of four women. The film is based on a book by Rula Jebreal. Speaking at the public screening of the film at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival, Jebreal says that the film is a story of her life and of so many more Mirals in the region. The film starts well with the real life inspirational story of Hind Husseini (Hiam Abbass), a prominent Palestinian figure who rescued 55 orphans after the Deir Yassin massacre in 1948 and converted her family mansion into Dar Al-Tifl, an educational institution and home to acquaint the displaced children with their roots.
Shot on location in Jerusalem and in Hind Husseini's home, the film chooses to convey the conflict of the region through beauty rather than violence. The name Miral played by Frieda Pinto comes from a red flower that grows everywhere in the area and is also symbolic of many more like her. Pinto delivers the beauty element of her character really well as the camera zooms in closely to accentuate her features and her hair blowing in the wind. Speaking at the Toronto premiere of the film, Pinto says that she worked hard to get the Arabic accent right and was helped by Jebreal and her co-star, Hiam Abbass. She adds that both women helped by reading dialogues to her which she practised.
Other women in the film include Nadia who has a troubled past of child abuse and works as a belly dancer. When someone calls her an "Arab whore" on the bus she is arrested for slapping the woman and is taken to prison. Here she meets Fatima who has received three life sentences for planting a bomb in a movie theatre that never goes off. The two women become friends and Fatima introduces Nadia (Yasmine Elmasri) to her brother (Alexander Siddiq) who takes Nadia under his wing. However the troubled Nadia is unable to reciprocate his love and care.
Siddiq actually steals the show by his sensitive portrayal of Nadia's husband and Miral's father. He doesn't want his daughter to end up like his wife and his sister. So he takes her to Hind Husseini. Abbass is excellent and is extremely effective even as she ages through the film, however her resolve never ages. It is a tough character to play and Abbass will get full credit.
Miral's story comes to the fore much later. The 17 year-old Miral gets involved in the movement when she falls in love with a revolutionary. The film does bring alive the agony of women and Schnabel who is Jewish himself says he had no problems working with Palestinians on the film. In fact he tries to explore various aspects of Palestinians and their differences. Miral who is initially troubled to see that her cousin has a Jewish girl friend quickly finds some common ground. "The film is about peace," Schnabel says as the conflict in Israel and Palestine continues even today.
BY PREETI THANDI
Source: youtube.com, twitter, IMDB.com
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