Narrative, 2007
Directors: Erez Tadmor, Guy Nattiv
Israel/ Arabic, English, French, Hebrew with subtitles
83 minutes
This romantic drama gives us the story of two people who were never meant to fall in love but do. A young Israeli kibbutznik and a Palestinian woman meet serendipitously on their way to the World Cup finals in Berlin. Thinking it was just for this one moment they take a risk and let themselves just have it, have each other, and have a passionate romance. Of course, with romance, your heart once given the reins by your head is hard put to let go, and soon they find themselves wanting the impossible- for this to last.
They don't even speak the same language but use secondary English to communicate. We are reminded of the political differences that threaten to tear them apart every time there is news of more violence in their homeland region, and we watch as each takes separate phone calls, each with very different reactions to and depictions of what just happened. What was necessary retaliation for one is a massacre for the other. Not an easy bridge to cross.
Perhaps more relatably to those who have felt the power of "love at first sight" are other complications of life that spring up as they get to know more about each other and realize life is of course far more complicated than simple desire. Was it worth risking their hearts in the end? I would say, isn't it always?
This film won the Grand Jury Prize for best drama at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.
Lucy Cruell