Free Zone

directed by: Amos Gitai

screenplay by: Amos Gitai & Marie-Jose Sanselme

starring:

Natalie Portman - Rebecca
Hanna Laszlo - Hanna

Hiam Abbass - Leila

Hmmm…. My first impression after watching the movie? Too short. The movie that made me thinking. Why people from Israel and Palestine hate each other so much if they share the same problems? Can an ordinary person change something? My answer was no but you can try.

An Israeli woman, Hanna, is going through Palestine to Free Zone (it’s a neutral place between Syria, Saudi Arabia and Iraq) to get the money from American, who bought armored car her husband produces. A friend, young American Rebeka, is going with her after leaving her husband. This is just an ordinary trip but it leads through many problems.

The thing that struck me was that Israel and Palestine are not so different. People look similar, both countries are destroyed by an endless war, and everyone is trying to survive in this world. Hanna is sometimes rude but I guess that in such a world where everyday might be the last day she has to be tough.

All three characters, Hanna, Rebeka and Leila (who’s American’s wife and is traveling with Hanna to get the money for them) are so different but they have to cope with each other. Hanna, who is from Israel, doesn’t trust Leila, who’s Palestinian, and vice versa. The most opened is Rebeka, who’s American.

I really love the song that is at the beginning. Rebeka is sitting in car crying and looking through the window. For those 6 inutes I was thinking why is she crying. And I think she was crying over Israel, a country were she moved from New York, a country destroyed, a country where people are thought hatred to others. She thought of Israel as her home bur later she says that she’s gotta get out of this country. The song sung in Hebrew might sound stupid at the very beginning but the ending show what the song is really about.

The film is worth watching. It really made me thinking. And it made me sad, because this war will last as long as there is one Israelite and Palestinian alive. And this is the place where Christianity comes from… Cheers.

P.S. I left the words to the song in my previous post.

P.S.2. If you think roads in Poland suck, go to the Far East :)