Le fils de l'autre

Two teenage boys and their families, living on either side of the Israeli-Palestinian border, come to know that the boys were accidentally switched after their birth in a hospital. Such a situation set across such an enmity-filled landscape could very well be expected to escalate into chaos and violence, but thankfully, the uneasy situation and the extraordinary story is well handled, and without being melodramatic.

Lorraine Levy skilfully and essentially makes it a general human story, getting past its national and traditional boundaries. It tries to question identity in the face of change; genetics vs upbringing, religion, goals, where do we actually belong?, and what actually matters? The two teenage leading characters in the movie, Joseph and Yacine, deal with the situation and these questions with a certain level of maturity and sensibility, which comes from their background of education and non-inclination towards religious extremism. It also helps that the two sets of parents are intelligent and good-willed people who guide the boys to an informed and sensible transition. And that's where the beauty of the story lies.

The acting by the two leads, Jules Sitruk and Mehdi Dehbi, and the remaining cast is commendable, but it's Emmanuelle Devos, as Joseph's mother, who stands out from the rest. The scene in which the details of the birth-switching is disclosed to the two families is quite heart-rending. And the scene in which Joseph, in a moment of inspiration, starts singing an Arabic song in front of his birth-family to distract everyone from the awkward atmosphere, is quite delightful.

(A particular song used in the trailer as well as the movie, Yael Naim's 'My Dreams', is quite a beautiful and meaningful one)

Baby switching error at hospital is the same motif with "Like Father, Like Son", but these movies have completely different viewpoints. In case of "Like Father, Like Son", as the wrongly switched children are still very young, the story is told from the parents viewpoint. The key question asked in the movie is: what makes the parent-child relationship true, under the biological relationship is denied. On the other hand, in case of "The Other Son", the wrongly switched children are already 18 years old, intelligent, tough-to-fudge youths. Furthermore, one is a Jew and the other is a Palestinian. Therefore, in this movie the story is told from both of parents' and children's viewpoints, more on the children's viewpoint. Thus, the title of the movie can be "The other parents" or "The other self" too.

In general, in the movies where a family faces an extraordinary problem, fathers are less reliable than mothers. In this movie too, the first reaction of the two fathers is to deny the fact. They try to think as if nothing happened. Mothers, however, immediately face the issue, share empathy with the other. Well, I am a man, but I have to agree with this development. The plot is simple. Both parents do not have complicated private background. Still, this is a heart-moving one. The most impressing scene for me was that Joshua suddenly sings at the dinner. Is it a Palestinian song?

This is an excellent piece of cinema, treating of a very tricky and complex question with intelligence, sensibility and heart. Extremely well acted, the characters are full of warmth, and both sides in the end seem equally right. Of course, we wish the current conflict could be sorted with the same compassionate approach but sadly this would be naive. Still, the film gives a very hopeful message that one likes to believe in. I am just back from Israel and feel the atmosphere of the movie is very true and genuine. If only understanding each other's culture could be done in a similar heartfelt way.

Enjoy!

"The Other Son" (2012 release from France/Israel; 105 min.) brings the story of 2 boys who are about to reach their 18th birthday. As the movie opens, we see Joseph applying to enlist at an elite unit of the Israeli Air Force, requiring him to do various medicals tests. It isn't long before his parents learn that Joseph's blood type (A+) is not compatible with theirs (A=). After some investigating, it becomes clear that two babies were switched accidentally at birth. The other 18 year old is Yacine, whose family lives in Palestine's West Bank. Joseph is devastated when he finds out about the mix-up at birth. But what about Yacine in Palestine? And how will their families react? And their friends? To tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: first, kudos to writer-director Lorraine Lévy for bringing us this movie. The plot is entirely believable, and Levy treats the subject matter with dignity and respect. As you can well imagine, this is a delicate topic and if not done properly, it will ruin the movie. When the impact of it all hits Joseph, he wonders "Am I still Jewish?". Even more importantly, this movie shows again that, when you put politics aside for a moment, at the end of the day we are dealing with real human beings. Watch how the Jewish and Palestine mothers deal with the news that the sons they have raised are not their own...

Bottom line: this movie should be required viewing for anyone interested in the Israeli-Palestine conflict. No, "The Other Son" is NOT a political movie, but instead is a heartbreaking family drama with a political undercurrent. "The Other Son" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Le fils de l'autre ! Simply to address the complaint of the first reviewer for seeing only two reviews for such a great work, I'll give it my five cents too! But I have to add there are 19 reviews before mine now!

I can't take any credit for having seen this wonderful story. I have a friend who, I think, on the account that I "was" French; often will pick French movies for our two couples to see at an independent theatre in Sydney.

And what a choice it was! I always been a fan of Emmanuelle Devos, and once more she was such a strong part of this movie. But as many reviewers have testified everyone else was also very good.

It is a very believable situation but also "poignante"; and you would have to be made of ice for not be emotionally involved with this 'semi' tragic story.

As the story line simply states: Two young men, one Israeli and one Palestinian, discover they were accidentally switched at birth ... For five cents you won't get more from me, but do yourself a favour, have a look at it.