Once again the Helsinki International Film Festival "Love and Anarchy" offered an excellent selection of movies.
I went to see five films and while I can recommend all of them, I was perhaps mostly touched by the last film I saw on Saturday. It was a film called Omar by a Palestine film director Hany Abu-Assad. Probably I would have been satisfied just watching the gorgeous principal actor Adam Bakri, but not only that, the film was excellent. The story was like a Shakespeare's tragedy and the spectator can only wish the movie to end quickly so she knows how badly it will end. At some point you just realise that it won't end with a honeymoon in Paris.
Already the beginning of the film is powerful, showing the crossing of the wall surrounding West Bank. The wall is absurd and depressing, anyone should see that. However, the film is not strongly taking sides in the Israel-Palestina conflict. It rather shows the human tragedy taking place in this context - love, betrayal, loyalty, trust. The insanity of wars! The vicious cycles connected to this conflict. In short, a film worth watching, though be aware of some post-film anxiety.
The conflict in the Middle East hasn't interested me for ages because it seems to be without an end. However, after a good friend of mine spent some time in Palestina as a volunteer, I have taken a new interest in the place. Omar also shows beautiful aspects of the country (and I'm not only talking about the actor playing Omar, but the film in general). Definitely a place to visit in the future.
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