Omar Palestine 2013 – 94min.

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Omar

Valérie Lobsiger
Movie Rating: Valérie Lobsiger

Arrested for taking part in a bombing, a young Palestinian is released in exchange for information.

Every day, Omar climbs the wall to visit his childhood friends Tarek, Amjad and Tarek’s sister Nadia, who returns his love in secret. Led by Tarek, the three friends plan their first bombing against the occupying Israelis. Things go wrong and Omar is captured, tortured and released on the condition that he will turn in Tarek within a month. Intending never to betray him, Omar uses the time he has to find the traitor who snitched on their operation. But his release raises suspicion. Nadia wants an explanation and ends up keeping her distance. Omar surprises her a few times as she’s talking to Amjad. He begins to doubt the sincerity of her love, especially when Amjad also asks for Nadia's hand...

A Palestinian who emigrated to the Netherlands, Hany Abu-Assad always returns to the reality of the occupied territories. His film perfectly illustrates the absurdity of the wall that cuts through West Bank villages, separating Palestinians from each other. The director detaches himself from the Palestinian question to raise the more general issue of the importance of trust in human relationships and the way doubt (skillfully introduced by Israeli forces) can subversively spoil them.

15.01.2021

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