Je danserai si je veux

This Israeli production about Palestinian roommates in Tel Aviv presents a rich and moving array of the quandaries faced by young women on the uneven ground between traditional values and self-determination in a modern, urban landscape.

Leila, a young lawyer, and Salma, who begins the story as a sous chef and then takes a job as a bartender but also moonlights as a rave DJ, are modern young party girls who drink, smoke cigarettes, and do occasional pot and coke when their male friends are offering. Into their apartment moves Noor, an ostensibly traditional Muslim girl who never appears in public without a hijab, and is affianced to an activist who works in an NGO devoted to helping Muslims get by. He's not happy that she's studying computer science at university, and hopes she'll stay at home to raise their children eventually.

All three women collide with their culture's - and especially families' - traditional expectations. Salma's parents introduce her to various unappealing bachelors; Leila meets and dates a filmmaker who has studied and worked in New York but turns out to have some sticking points about her choices. Noor hits the hardest wall, but the way her initially unsympathetic roommates come together for her is beautiful and very satisfying.

Although this story centers on young women, and most of the men are forgettable at best or unpleasant (save for a queen-y gay friend of Leila's and, surprisingly, Noor's father, in a pivotal scene late in the movie), I wouldn't call it a "chick movie." It's well written and acted, and I found it not a great stretch to recognize that some men and families oppress young women in the U.S. in ways that are not so different, even today.

"In Between" is a lovely and solid piece of work.

A study in tolerance and values as they clash - tradition vs. contemporary; old vs. new; parents vs. older children; male dominance vs. female independence. We see good/bad on both sides - rape, drugs (legal & illegal), abuse, lack of understanding. Families, men & women trying to find love & answers. Centered about a Palestinian community in Israeli Tel Aviv.

...that's what jumped into my head as the ending credits rolled. Bar Behar / Lo Po Lo Sham packs a wallop: It's a powerful feminist film that shows us a little-known world: that of twenty-something Palestinians – from both the Palestinian Authority and inside Israel – who move to Tel Aviv to escape the confines of their conservative, patriarchal society.

Despite their differing backgrounds – one Christian, one secular Muslim, and one traditional Muslim – the three roommates stand by each other through their respective patriarchy-based crises with exquisite nurturing and tenderness. Must see.

I don't know what "Bar Bahr" means in Arabic, but I liked the English title-- "In Between"-- less than the Hebrew, which is "Neither Here Nor There." The movie is about how its three heroines suffer from belonging neither to traditional Arab society nor to secular Westernized society. Any base that they may seem to have established for themselves "in between" seems to crumble beneath their feet.

Despite the serious predicament, though, the movie is also very much about sisters doing it for themselves. There's an automatic solidarity whereby women-- at least young women of similar ages-- are all automatically soulmates; and men, it almost goes without saying, are swine. (Well, the gay guy is of course okay and a bit amusing.) Despite those stereotypes, the movie holds interest by virtue of believable acting and believable situations. My wife says it's one of the best we've seen in recent years, and she had the chance to appreciate it a little better than I did not only because she's a woman but also because she understands Arabic somewhat. For those who don't understand Arabic, though, there's still the added benefit of a look into another culture. The Israeli press was particularly impressed that not only traditional Arabic life is glimpsed, but also the small, rarely-explored community of young Arabs in Tel Aviv. (Is it possible that they all really smoke that much?) We see a succession of situations that by no means always involve much action or even much tension, although a couple of crises do come up. Mostly the appeal of the movie is in allowing us to feel like a fly on the wall among interesting people facing interesting day-to-day challenges.

The Israeli film Bar Bahar was shown in the US with the title "In Between" (2016). It was written and directed by Maysaloun Hamoud.

Three Palestinian women live in an apartment in Tel Aviv. Two of them (Leila Bakhr and Salma) have more or less abandoned traditional values. They drink, smoke, attend raves, and do coke. We assume that their love lives also don't correspond to traditional values, although that is implied, not stated.

The third woman is Noor, who is striving to maintain tradition. Noor is engaged to be married to a man who grudgingly accepts that fact that she is a computer scientist, but would much rather she stay at home once they are married. Not a good sign. The plot revolves around all three of the women, but especially Noor.

Three exceptional actors portray the women. Mouna Hawa plays Leila Bakhr, Sana Jammelieh is Salma, and Shaden Kanboura plays Noor. All three women are strong actors, but I was especially impressed by Shaden Kanboura.

I have to admit that, although I'm hardly a traditionalist, I wish that women who want to cast off tradition could find less toxic ways of demonstrating their independence. (One of my friends says that this is the point--if you want to cast off tradition, you cast it off and take any path you like, including toxic paths.) I see his point, but smoking will still take ten years off their non-traditional lives.

We saw this film at the beautiful JCC Hart Theater as part of the Rochester International Jewish Film Festival. This is always an excellent festival, but it has been even better this year. The festival is almost over as I write this review. We've seen eight films of the ten we plan to see, and I've given every one of the eight an IMDb rating of 9 or 10. If you live in Upstate New York, get on the RIJFF mailing list, because some of the movies will be re-shown later in the year. Also, if you love movies, plan to attend the RIJFF in 2018.

This film is carrying a strong IMDb rating of 7.5. That's good, but I think it's even better than that. If it's available for the small screen, see it that way. It's an exceptional film.