Une bouteille à la mer

A decent attempt to the contentious issue of Palestinian-Israel conflict. In the first half hour or so, the movie tries to lay the groundwork by displaying the daily life on both sides of the wall. The stroytelling in this section is thin and becomes boring at times. The movie only picks up pace after detention of the male character as a spy suspect and becomes more interesting. The whole story, however is overly romanticized with its main theme: message in the bottle. In the borderless internet era where one can easily discuss such matters on online forums who'd need and use a bottle in the sea for messaging is behind comprehension.

The majority of cinematic subject fare on this topic being documentary: Think 5 Broken Cameras, Where do Birds Fly?, Tears of Gaza? - all excellent in their own right, but extremely difficult, if necessary, to watch.

Films like this wonderful modern teen email love story in one of the most highly charged tension filled moral quandaries of our age are necessarily important as they humanize the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. You feel for the characters, you feel the suffocating grip of the Israeli "effective control" control over Gaza and the "collective punishment" dealt upon the population when rockets are launched at Israel.

Pretext is not presented, nor is it necessary. This is a much deeper narrative that attempts to touch on the eternal prospects of human relations, conflict resolution in the age of laser guided weaponry and most importantly, the ease with with love emerges in spite of, or precisely due to the lack of the specific historical and idealogical narratives that have driven this conflict for 60 years.

Omar, and now, Bottle, are refreshing and sublime. We get to know at least one family with a girl morally searching and a boy in Gaza who answers the message in a bottle that changes both their lives forever.

"Une bouteille à la mer" is a very nice stoy about the friendship between a Jewish and a Palestinian boy who lives in Gaza. It's quite difficult to find the good words to describe this touching story of a Jewish girl who intends to understand what happens in his country and tries to speak with somebody in the Gaza strip.And a young Palestinian begins to speak with her through internet. This film carries a very good message about peace, understanding and friendship !! Like this story some Isreali citizen and some Palestinian have intended to build bridges between both communities and we must support all these efforts for the peace !!

Pure propaganda to please the large Muslim population in France, and also the socialistic aspirations of this country.

Plus, artistically, the movie is one of the worst I have ever seen. But, I am not surprised. French movies are most of the time worst than mediocre: screen directors, actors, settings, dialogues, etc.

And I am not surprised it has a 7.2 users' review. They must be French and / or Muslims who love to see a Jew having a relationship with them. it arouses their pride and self-esteem.

Additionally, the movie doesn't tell the truth. It rarely happens that Jews and Muslims interact. It can happen of course, but rarely. Also, a Palestinian, where it's so dangerous for a Jewish woman to go? What about, the guards who secure the border between Gaza and the West Bank and Israel? They would have noticed the Israeli Jew and wouldn't let her pass. It was the same when a Jewish Israeli citizen wanted to visit Egypt from Israel. They couldn't pass before !

Last, the description about checking, and security enforcement by Israelis has only one purpose: to demonize Israel and attract sympathy to the Palestinians. This, France loves it.

'Une bouteille à la mer' or A Bottle in the Gaza Sea is at once an incredibly tender love story restricted to the Internet and an intensive exploration of both side of the Israeli and Palestinian dilemma that begs for resolution. The story is by Valérie Zenatti and has been adapted for the screen and directed by French writer/director Thierry Binisti. While the content of the relationship between the main characters is fragile it serves as an exposé of how seemingly impossible life must be living in that small area of the world so vulnerable to repeated hostilities.

The film opens sensitively at the beach - there is a barbed wire barricade separating parts of the beach - and a young man (Eytan Levine - Abraham Belaga) is throwing a whiskey bottle into the ocean. Inside the bottle is a letter from Etyan's sister Tal (Agathe Bonitzer) requesting that whoever finds the bottle to please email her where the bottle was found and who found it. Tal is 17 and has recently moved from France to Jerusalem with her family. She is puzzled by the constant hostilities between the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank and the Israelis. When the bottle is discovered it is found by young Naim (Mahmud Shalaby) who at 20 years of age still lives with his mother Intessar (the brilliant actress Hiam Abbass) who works in a hospital (the father is dead) and Naim makes a living delivering Tee Shirts with his cousin whose father makes the Tee Shirts. There is constant strife in Gaza with the Hamas entering homes and abusing citizens suspected of being traitors and Naim lives in fear after he is interrogated one night. Naim emails Tal in response to her request for identity of the recipient of her letter and very gradually the two grow to know each other by email. Only 60 miles separate them but many bombings, check-points, sleepless nights and bloodstained days stand between them. Knowing that Tal is French encourages Naim to study French at the French Cultural Institute and his success in earning Tal's language results in his applying for a fellowship to study French in Paris.

The Israelis wage war against the Palestinians and Tal's brother Etyan goes to Gaza to fight. Tal fears for her brother and for Naim. But Naim has found a way out of Gaza by leaving for France - a journey that must begin with crossing through endless barriers to reach Israel to fly to France. Tal and Naim come close to actually meeting at the end of the film but the rest of the story must remain untold for those who have not seen the film.

Rarely has a film so judiciously and sensitively show both the Palestinian view as well as the Israeli view in the constant struggle that seems without end. This film will do more to inform the public about the conflict while sharing one of the most delicate of relationships ever written - the relationship is so very much a mirror of the meanings behind the Israeli Palestinian conflict. It is a rare jewel of a movie. Highly recommended.

Grady Harp