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Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Bab el shams(2004)

Bab el shams(2004)
Director: Yousry Nasrallah
Country: France | Egypt
Runtime: 278min

Bab el Shams is considered in my opinion one of the greatest Arabic movies ever if not the best. The movie is about Israel's beginning and the struggle of the helpless Palestinians. The first half is technically marvelous, great scenes, wonderful picture and amazing acting for all the cast. It tells how it all began and how the Palestinians suffered and it shows how it was like before the war between the Arabs and the Zionists. It objectively shows how the Jews looked like when compared to the Arabs in 1948 They were educated, organized in their camps, overall more civilized than the Arabs (probably because they were immigrants from Europe and America). The movie is criticizing the Arabs more than attacking the Israelis The second half of the movie really challenges your mind and keeps you alert for every word is said has a meaning or two One of my favorite scenes was when um younis told her husband (the warrior) to listen to her for once in her life and see what she really needs; she told him that she and his kids are now working for the Israelis. It is a must see movie but please if you gonna see it, first don't watch it with preset ideas, second..do not compare it with Hollywood commercial movies

This a very beautiful and very personal account of a story of a nation. Nasrallah did a great job. The dialog, imagery, costumes, acting are superb, touching and very human. Filmography is very good, excellent director of photography.

This movie is divided into two parts, the first dealing with the Palestinians' displacement in the 1948 war and the history since then, and the second part dealing more specifically with the Lebanon war and the Palestinians' complicated situation there.

The first part is absolutely brilliant, a totally engaging epic told through the a comatose Palestinian militant. The second part has a lot more dialogue and gets a bit didactic in parts, where it seems like the characters are just explaining the politics of the Middle East for the benefit of the camera. Since the whole movie runs 4.5 hours, this half could probably have benefited from some cutting, but it's still hard to criticize the film as a whole.