Bethléem

I was lucky enough to attend the TIFF premiere of "Bethlehem" and I was blown away. In the past 10 or so years, the Israeli film world has boomed and seen rise to several internationally acclaimed films. It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if "Bethlehem" joined the ranks of "Waltz with Bashir", "Ajami", and "Footnote" on that list of globally celebrated modern Israeli movies. Each aspect of this film was crafted with such poise and precision, it carried itself with the majesty that only a truly talented filmmaker could give it. Yuval Adler's incomparable debut at the helm of a motion picture is so incredible that I have to personally thank him for the pleasure of watching his film. It was a privilege to have lived within it's walls. Bethlehem is the story of the relationship between an Israeli secret service officer and his informant, the fiery younger brother of the head of a Palestinian militia. As their relationship wanes and waxes to the tunes of perfectly paced military action sequences and beautifully scripted emotive developments, it becomes clear that this is no ordinary movie. It's as much of a political commentary as it is a story. Yuval Adler and Ali Waked's incredible script leads the audience through the winding story of the Israel-Palestinian conflict. They lead us through the maze of violence, through the maze of political and social uproar and arrive at an ultimate conclusion. No one will win if things continue this way. Both sides must step back and look at their actions and see what they are causing. Both sides must put their arms down for a moment. If things continue as violently as they are, no one will win. It's a film that doesn't take sides. The Israelis are seen at times through the eyes of a Palestinian, a bully-like entity smashing walls with trucks, forcing their grip on the Palestinians. The Palestinians are seen at times through the eyes of an Israeli, as violent and explosive terrifying militants who aren't afraid to kill to claim the entire land for themselves. At the end of the film, though, everyone is naked. Everyone looks so human it's saddening. It's enough of an emotional punch to leave a lump in the audiences throat. It's enough to think, what is this fighting for? "Bethlehem" doesn't denounce supporting a side, but it does stress to learn more about each side before the support is given to them. It should be targeted towards high-school age and older students. People that are just beginning to pull back the veil on the social and political landscape. "Bethlehem"'s message and delivery is perfect. Incredible performances by all facets of the film. It will be a terrible crime if this film is not up for the Best Foreign Language Oscar. One of the best foreign films I have ever seen. It was a pleasure to experience and I will cherish this movie for a long time to come.

It is not a political movie.

No positive, no negative of Arab/Jews conflict.

No left, no right its the Reality.

they Just made ​​an excellent film, good acting. Beautiful plot.

I loved the acting of Tsahi Halevi-"razi"- the agent, he was very good.

The action Scene are very good.

Excellent dialog. Who loved The Departed will love this movie.

the Viewer Continue to think about the movie after leaving the Cinema.

I enjoyed very much from the film.

Highly recommended.

This amazingly informative Israeli film is called BETHLEHEM because most of the action takes place there, in the present day. Bethlehem is an entirely Arab town. The film is very dramatically powerful and well-made, even though it is only the first feature film directed by Yuval Adler (whoever he is, as no biographical information or date of birth is recorded for him on IMDb). I read something about this film in a newspaper and ordered the DVD, the cover of which is entirely in Hebrew. It is difficult to access the English subtitles because you have to read Hebrew to know where to click. However, I discovered on my second try that you click on the second Hebrew word at the bottom to get them. The DVD was certainly not manufactured with an English-speaking audience even remotely in mind. I noticed that the end credits were in both Hebrew and Arabic. I gather from indications on the box that this film has won awards at several film festivals including Venice and Telluride. It well deserves them. It is an astonishing inside glimpse of the conflicts going on in Palestine today. The story is essentially an emotional one, about the relationship between an Israeli man who is a security agent named Razi (played excellently by Tsahi Halevi, who has apparently never acted in a film before), and a young Arab Israeli boy called Sanfur played by Shadi Mar'i, who does a brilliant job in an extremely difficult and complex part. Razi has recruited Sanfur as an informant because his older brother is a ruthless terrorist named Ibrahim, who sets off bombs and kills civilians in terror attacks inside Israel. Razi and Sanfur have a strong emotional bond, and Razi saves Sanfur's life by hinting that he should go to see his aunt in Hebron suddenly, as he knows that a security operation is about to take place in which Sanfur may be killed. Sanfur follows his advice and is spared. Sanfur is alienated from his stiff and formal father and accepts Razi as a father figure, and Razi is becoming dangerously attached to Sanfur, thus putting his own life in peril. The main action of the film concerns the struggles between the two conflicting Palestinian factions of the more extreme Hamas, and the less extreme supporters of 'the Palestinian Authority'. Ibrahim is supposed to be a leading militia commander of the latter, but he has secretly been recruited by Hamas and is taking their money without telling his comrades, with Sanfur as the intermediary who collects the money from a vegetable seller in the local market and passes it to his brother. From the beginning, we see that Sanfur is a very emotionally volatile and unstable young man, who erupts into rages very easily. The more troubled Sanfur is, the more Razi is tempted to try to help him, as he sees that he has the potential to be a decent person if he gets the right kind of emotional help and support. But meanwhile, Sanfur is becoming increasingly compromised and trapped from two sides. On one side, he is not telling friends, family and comrades that his brother has sold out to Hamas, and on the other side, his friendship with Razi may be revealed because Razi has obtained hospital treatment for him for a gunshot wound, and this may be discovered. Sanfur's father is a passive fanatic who says that only Ibrahim enables him to hold his head up with pride, because he is bombing and killing the hated oppressors, the Jews. Sanfur does not want to bomb or kill anybody, but he is surrounded by killers and rival militias on all sides. The film is a tragic portrayal of how impossible it is for many of the Palestinian Arabs to escape from the vicious cycles of hatred and murder which absorb and monopolize their lives. When they are not trying to kill the Israelis, the rival militias are trying to kill each other, which they do much more often. There is one terrible scene where the vicious and hardened militia leader Badawi, played excellently by Hitham Omari (of whom nothing is recorded on IMDb), is friendly and joking with another Arab militia fighter as they run up a staircase teasing one another, and then when they reach the top, he casually pushes him over the banister to his death, without so much as a moment's hesitation or any qualm. That is how brutalised the lives of these people have become. They simply have to go on killing, killing, killing, without any respite, and often they are killing friends and even their own family members. It is also interesting to see how the Arab 'townies' continually ridicule Badawi for being of Bedouin descent. They insult him by saying his father came in from his desert tent to the town and had not even learned how to wear shoes. I had not realized the Bedouin were held in such low esteem. The many layers of Palestinian Arab society are thus shown in gruesome conflict and strife with one another, and they cannot agree on anything, not even the levels of violence to be inflicted upon the Jews. In view of the fact that the rival factions in Palestine have recently 'made peace' with one another and formed a joint government, one really wonders how on earth such a thing can ever work. Since they seem to hate each other more than they hate the Jews, what future is there for Palestine? It seems to me that murder, treachery, betrayal, and terror can never disappear from this unhappy part of the world. This film helps us see the inside perspectives and personal tragedies and conflicts which are never otherwise clear, no matter how many newspaper articles you read. I am not permitted by IMDb reviewing rules to discuss the ending of the film, so I cannot comment on how the story turns out.

In a fascinating coincidence this excellent film,and Hany Abu-Assad's even better 'Omar' appeared at nearly the same time. Both tell similar stories, one from the Israeli perspective and one from the Palestinian. Both tell of a young man recruited (or forced) into being an informer for the Israelis. We see these young men torn in multiple directions, risking their lives if they are uncovered, trying to play one side against the other, finding themselves drawn ever deeper in a morass they are powerless to stop.

In Bethlehem the 'hero' is only a teenager, and an immature one at that. His older brother is an accomplished terrorist/freedom fighter, leaving his little brother Sanfur without much of an identity of his own, he seems overlooked by his family and unimportant to his community. Ironically in many ways Sanfur's closest relationship is to his middle-aged Israeli 'handler', who also clearly has fatherly feelings towards the youth, further complicating the relationship.

The acting is generally excellent, and there's a lot of thriller like tension to go along with the human drama. I actually saw this and 'Omar' within days of each other, and I would recommend the same approach to others. Seeing the two sides of the same coin gives a feeling of greater insight into the conundrum that is the middle-east. Also, both directors are careful not to paint black and white portraits of either side, both treat all involved as human, so the differences in perspective are both fascinating and subtle.

Set in Bethlehem during the current Arab-Israeli conflict, Yuval Adler's film (cowritten with Ali Wakad) concentrates on the life of seventeen-year-old Sanfur (Shadi Mar'i) an Israeli Arab trying to survive in the midst of almost impossible conflict. Cultivated at an early age by Israeli Secret Service officer Razi (Tsahi Halevi) to be a spy for the Israeli cause, he reports on the activities of the Palestine Liberation Front and Hamas. At the same time he fulfills the same role for the PLF, led by thuggish man Badawi (Hitham Omari) who has known Sanfur since childhood. Sanfur twists and turns, telling the stories that both Razi and Badawi want to hear until the complications of his life become too difficult to manage, with tragic consequences.

BETHLEHEM looks at the ways in which Sanfur's life is dependent on family values as he is morally obliged to avenge the death of his older brother İbrahim (Tarik Kopty), while at the same time trying to conceal his association with Razi from his father Nasser (George Iskandar). Familial traditions are so strong that the younger siblings have little or no power of self-determination. Hence we feel for Sanfur as his face becomes more and more contorted with pain as he tries to maintain an urbane façade while fulfilling impossible tasks.

As far as the civil war is concerned, the film suggests that involvement is very much a badge of male power. By carrying guns and patrolling the streets in search of enemies, the young man (Palestinian and Israeli alike) feel that they are somehow committed to a cause, giving them the excuse to indulge in pointless violence. Sanfur becomes embroiled in that culture, even though he is manifestly unsuited for the task.

Set in a series of dingy rooms and dark passages in a ruined city, the film creates an underworld in which concepts of "good" and "evil," or "right" and "wrong," simply do not exist. No one, it seems, can grow up unaffected (or should it be corrupted) by the civil war, which seems never-ending, despite continued calls for a ceasefire.