Bethléem

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.

This was by far the best film I saw at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

Incredibly well written, brilliant, extremely fair and even-handed at a very divisive issue, beautifully filmed and with a shocking ending that literally left the audience gaping and stunned. Everything ties together perfectly and makes you rethink through the entire film all over again. Fantastic acting, simply a phenomenal film.

Not for the faint of heart, and it is not a happy-go-lucky film, but certainly well thought out and very fair. I can't say enough about it, go see the film for yourself! Well done.

Bethlehem (2013/I) is an Israeli film co-written and directed by Yuval Adler. It tells the story of a Palestinian adolescent, Sanfur (played by Shadi Mar'i) and his relationship with Razi, an Israeli intelligence officer (played by Tsahi Halevi).

Like the true situation in the region, this is a game without winners. Razi honestly cares about Sanfur, but this care should always be secondary to his real goal--finding the leaders of Hamas. Sanfur's brother is an important Hamas leader, so the plan is to have Sanfur lead the Israelis to the brother, who is the person they want to capture or kill.

As would be expected, nothing goes as planned. One horrible situation replaces another horrible situation. In fact, this is one of the few films I've seen where there is no quiet, safe moment. If I am remembering correctly, no one ever smiles or relaxes. (Razi's wife has the thankless role of telling him, "Be careful, Razi." We never get to see any real affection between them.)

I'm not an expert in the situation in the area, so I can't comment about the movie's authenticity. To my non-expert eye, the movie looked very realistic. Grim and realistic.

It's worth seeing this film because it is extremely well constructed and well acted. However, just watch it with the understanding that you won't leave the theater--or eject the DVD--in a happy frame of mind.

The movie will work well on DVD, but we were fortunate enough to see it on the large screen at the fine Dryden Theatre as part of the outstanding Rochester Jewish Film Festival.

The first scene involves some Palestinian boys engaged in an updated version of "chicken" in the desert outside of Jerusalem. Instead of some teenagers in the 1950's driving their cars off some embankment as in "Rebel without a Cause", these boys are using semi-automatic weapons and a rather worn "bullet-proof" vest. The main character of the film, Sanfur (played by Shadi Mar'i in completely convincing performance), is a Palestinian teenager who dons the vest and instructs his fellow peers to shoot him, if they have the guts. This is a game but a very brutal one. When some of the adults appear on the scene, the kids scatter. But I think the point is the adults are playing at the same brutal game, daring each other to fire at one another.

The film involves three groups: two militia groups of Palestinians who are somewhat at odds with each other, Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, and their common enemy, the Israels. Sanfur is literally caught between all three who seem to be playing a very deadly game of tug-of-war. His family is sympathetic to the Palestinian Authority but he socializes with people in Hamas, the more radical of the two. At the same time, Sanfur is good friends with Razi (Tsahi Halevi in an equally compelling performance), who is in reality an Israeli agent. His agency's duty is to infiltrate the Palestinian regions near Jerusalem and Bethlehem and root out members of the Palestinian militia groups. While Ravi appears to be Sanfur's friend at one level, the Israeli is using the boy to obtain information about Hamas.

The conflict begins with a decision to hunt down and assassinate a Hamas leader name of Ibrahim, whom the Israelis have been chasing for a year but is also, unfortunately, Sanfur's brother. Sanfur finds himself caught between the radical Hamas leaders, his family which appear to be on the moderate side of the conflict, and Ravi the Israeli, who has become like a father-figure for the boy. Now the boy is torn between all these loyalties. The crucial moment of the film occurs when Sanfur forces Ravi to take a kind of test of friendship. Will he succeed or fail? Will the boy side with the Palestinian authority, Hamas or with the Israeli agent?

An incredibly compelling film, but a very dark one about the current hostilities between Israelis and Palestinians. The acting is outstanding, and I have read that some of the actors had never performed in a film before. The viewer feels as if he or she is with these people, almost spying on their conversations and actions. There is never a dull moment, but this is not that kind of film where the good guys and the bad guys are neatly spelled out for us.