Lemon Tree (2008) directed by Eran Riklis
Lemon Tree is a film that shows what happens when ordinary people from both sides of the fence interact with each other as individuals rather than as faceless sides of a struggle. It is a humanistic film that shows we are all the same people. This message is even more poignant when you realize that Lemon Tree is an Israeli made film that is decidedly sympathetic to the Palestinian plight.
Salma is a widowed Palestinian woman whose family has tended to a lemon grove for generations. This lemon grove sits right on the border of Israel and the West Bank which is a problem when the Israeli Defense Minister and his wife move into a house that sits next to the grove. The Israeli Secret Service decides that the grove poses a national security threat since terrorists could hide in there or something to attack the house so they order the grove to be cut down. Salma enlists the help of a lawyer Ziad to fight this order and takes it all the way to the Supreme Court.
The key to the story isn't necessarily the conflict of the lemon trees but of the human relationships formed in the film. The Minister's wife Mira sits on the other side of the barbed wire fence and silently observes Salma lovingly tend to her trees and sympathizes with her. They both share a sense of isolation and loneliness that speaks volumes to each other even though they rarely say a word to each other throughout the film. The other relationship that forms is between Salma and her lawyer Ziad who also shares her sense of loneliness. He has left his wife and daughter behind to find work back in the homeland. There is a romantic spark between him and Salma as he grows to appreciate her quiet strength and beauty. It is a sort of forbidden love that adds more dimensions to the story. Overall Lemon Tree is an effective story of human relationships that is worth watching even if the issue of the trees themselves comes out as a little dry. Perhaps my one complaint would be that while it is an intriguing drama, it doesn't quite speak to me on a cinematic level. There's nothing fancy going on, just characters acting in front of a camera, though sometimes that is all you need to tell a nice story.
Grade: B
Lemon Tree is a film that shows what happens when ordinary people from both sides of the fence interact with each other as individuals rather than as faceless sides of a struggle. It is a humanistic film that shows we are all the same people. This message is even more poignant when you realize that Lemon Tree is an Israeli made film that is decidedly sympathetic to the Palestinian plight.
Salma is a widowed Palestinian woman whose family has tended to a lemon grove for generations. This lemon grove sits right on the border of Israel and the West Bank which is a problem when the Israeli Defense Minister and his wife move into a house that sits next to the grove. The Israeli Secret Service decides that the grove poses a national security threat since terrorists could hide in there or something to attack the house so they order the grove to be cut down. Salma enlists the help of a lawyer Ziad to fight this order and takes it all the way to the Supreme Court.
The key to the story isn't necessarily the conflict of the lemon trees but of the human relationships formed in the film. The Minister's wife Mira sits on the other side of the barbed wire fence and silently observes Salma lovingly tend to her trees and sympathizes with her. They both share a sense of isolation and loneliness that speaks volumes to each other even though they rarely say a word to each other throughout the film. The other relationship that forms is between Salma and her lawyer Ziad who also shares her sense of loneliness. He has left his wife and daughter behind to find work back in the homeland. There is a romantic spark between him and Salma as he grows to appreciate her quiet strength and beauty. It is a sort of forbidden love that adds more dimensions to the story. Overall Lemon Tree is an effective story of human relationships that is worth watching even if the issue of the trees themselves comes out as a little dry. Perhaps my one complaint would be that while it is an intriguing drama, it doesn't quite speak to me on a cinematic level. There's nothing fancy going on, just characters acting in front of a camera, though sometimes that is all you need to tell a nice story.
Grade: B
No comments:
Post a Comment