L'attentat

Dr. Amin Jaafari is a non-practicing Muslim who is a celebrated surgeon in Tel Aviv. He still faces suspicions and racism but he seems to be the pinnacle of integration and secularism. Then everything changes when his Arab Christian wife Siham becomes a suicide bomber who killed 17 people including many children. He is devastated and isolated. He goes to seek the truth by himself.

This movie takes the intractable Palestinian-Isreali conflict down to a personal level. The first half is filled with great tension. However it doesn't carry it all the way through. The reveal, if it could be called that, is not compelling enough. It hints on something more shattering. Also the use of a Christian wife demands something more than the unity-of-oppression argument. It seems like an unnecessary side trip. Mostly it worked because the first half is so strong, and the second half isn't too bad.

"The Attack" is an excitingly refreshing view of the Israeli Palestinian crisis with dark overtones and deep insight to this hotbed area of the world. It is Written by Ziad Doueiri, and Joelle Touma. It is directed by Ziad Doueiri. The story revolves around an Arab surgeon receiving living and working at a hospital in Israel. He receives the high medal of honor from his scientific colleagues when his phone rings. This initiates the search for the reason his wife, whom he has lived with for fifteen years, has become a terrorist. Without spoiling the plot, I can only urge you to see this movie on the grounds that it will promote a deeper understanding of the strength of the emotional overlay on either side of the border. In addition it contains some spectacular cinematography of the Holy Land with with awe inspiring aerial shots.

Women make the best suicide bombers. They receive more media attention and generate greater mass hysteria. If they can kill innocent children, this creates the best publicity possible. The Attack, a film by Ziad Doueiri deals with such suicide bombing connected to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. The story is told in such a powerful and inventive way that I left the theatre feeling as if my emotional center had been extracted, run over by a train, and then transplanted back inside. One way I seem to judge how good a film is is by how bad it makes me feel.

After seeing The Attack I thought immediately of Paradise Now (2005). It has the same lead actor and both films involve Tel Aviv bombings, but while Paradise Now's suspense is generated by mystery involved in the story's unfolding climaxing in a mega-unsettller of an ending, The Attack gives away all its plot secrets in the first act. The major conflict of the film takes place early. Climax hit, mystery solved, we are out to examine why the events happened. The film opens with the protagonist's highest moment, so from here down is the only way to go.

Amin Jaafari, an ultra-successful Arab surgeon living in Tel Aviv receives a career achievement award. In his acceptance speech he praises a non-existent armistice of hostility between the Arab world and Israel. The irony of this speech is played out over and over again as he suffers blow after blow demonstrating the error of his judgment.

There is a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv and Jaafari's wife disappears. She has forgotten her cell phone. All things lighting, photography and mood point to "oh no, she's been killed." Shockingly, not only has she been killed, she was actually responsible; She was the bomber. Married for 15 years, Jaafari tries to persuade others that he knew his wife well, that she could never do anything so terrible; we spend very little time wondering or investigating the trivialities of whether or not she did the deed. He gets a letter that was mailed before the bombing. It admits to the bombing and pleads, "Don't hate me."

This secret disclosed, Jaafari goes to Palestine to track down the people who organized her suicide. What we find out in Palestine is a wrenching tale of Jaafari's own search for answers. He tries to come to terms with his wife as a mass murderer while at the same time still being madly in love with her. The more he mourns, the bigger the atrocity of his wife's deed becomes, and ever the more realistic.

Jaafari's fall from grace is a vivid representation that tragedy can strike at any time, to anyone. After seeing this film we are left with a striking awareness of our own vulnerability. Seeing an affluent, successful surgeon being betrayed by his wife, his family, his profession, and both of his home states leaves little hope for those of us that are less successful, non-surgeons.

Jaafari's was ignorant. He disregarded all the signs, saw only what he wanted to see, and this contributed to his ultimate demise, but he was not exceptionally oblivious, nor was he in any way malicious or evil. He was human. We leave theatres hopefully trying not to make the same mistakes.

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While the movie presents in general an unbiased and, for the most part balanced, view of the mutual Israeli - Palestinian misunderstandings, for lack of a better word, I feel that at least on one occasion the director missed to give a counterargument to an obviously fanatic Palestinian religious priest figure's assertion to the effect that the Jews do not belong in "their" territory. Nevertheless, the director does a masterful work in depicting the deep and troublesome moral issues faced by those brave individuals who attempt to bridge the chasm dividing the two "adversaries". The photography and acting are outstanding to say the least.

However, it is most unfortunate, if not morally criminal, for the Arab League, I believe, to ban this movie on the absurd grounds that it was filmed in Israel, and not in "Palestine". This action just adds further insult to injury.

"According to the NY Times as of June 2013 the film has been banned or refused release in every Arab country for the crime of filming in Israel."---IMDb Trivia Aside in Morocco (which I don't think is an Arab nation, though it is a predominantly Muslim nation), this film was banned in many countries simply because it was filmed in Israel. It's a shame, as the message is important--one everyone should hear and discuss.

Amin is a very well respected doctor who not only works in the country, but he thrives. He's a Palestinian but not particularly religious and has no problem working with Jews. And, naturally, when there is a nearby suicide bombing, he works to save as many of the victims as he can. However, after going home from this exhaustive shift, he receives an emergency phone call--he needs to come to work immediately. There, he's told that they think the suicide bomber was his wife! Not surprisingly, he cannot accept this--especially since his wife is a Palestinian Christian and seems to have no interest in the Occupied Territories. But, eventually he realizes the truth--but it leaves him with so many questions--questions he might be able to have answered in Nablus on the West Bank. However, like the Jews had become once they learned his wife was the killer, the Palestinians are NOT welcoming and he's threatened repeatedly and told to leave. What's next? See the film.

This is a very interesting film. Seeing Amin dealing with the various stages of grief was interesting. What was even more interesting is that the film does not provide us with answers and so much of it would be great to see and discuss. A thought-provoking and very well made film.