Le chanteur de Gaza

What a great movie, hard to believe it is based on a true story! Amazing emotions, music, and images. We all hear in the news about what is going on in Gazza, but looking at one guy story, tells it all in such a better way. It is worth looking up videos and recording of the real Muhammad Assaf from Arab Idols before you see this movie. That is all I have been doing since I saw the movie! It is extra special that the director Hani Abu-Assad had the entire cast from Gazza. It is not about politics or religion, It is a great look at a single story and the power of Art. We all need to see more stories like this from this region of the world that is deeply ruined by political disasters.

The movies shows us how Mohammed becomes one of the most influential singers in the Arabic world. Apart from this point, nothing else special. This is a movie so when I watched it, I was hoping to see sth more. For example, how hard it was for Mohammed to achieve his goal. Selling grilled fish to buy instruments he needed was a good starting point, then I need to see more. If you want people to like your characters you create, you need more stories about them. Also more about traits/personalities, and characters' inner world. It was a good point to show us his inner struggle after he became famous few minutes before the movie ended. There should be more scenes like that.

I do love a good heartfelt true story, and this was right up my alley. I was hooked from the start and felt really bad for the sister, who would have had to have been the best actor in the movie (the main character as a boy had to be the worst I thought). The missed a trick however when they didn't really refer back to her in the Idol run.

The movie however was not without it's flaws. The splicing in of the Arab Idol took away from the emotion at the end of the movie and put a dampener on the movies end.

This however was only a minor detail as in overall terms this was a good movie which shows how reality shows can actually be important things for certain peoples.

This is a beautifully made movie highlighting parts of Mohammed Assaf's life, that give us a feel of where he's from, his childhood in Gaza, his talent for music and where he finally got to. It is a fantastic movie, that will touch your heart and make you fall in love with the humble young man who really changed his life around, and you can still see the modesty and humility behind his smile. This movie will take you on the journey of Assaf's life, right from his childhood growing up through the harshness of war, saving money to accomplish his dreams and his beautiful relationship with his family. This movie will make you laugh, cry, and feel so happy and proud of Assaf's accomplishments, whether you're Palestinian or from another part of the world. A MUST watch.

The beautiful, moving story of Mohammad Assaf told in a very feel-good manner. The movie follows the same formula you might see in similar movies made in Hollywood, however context is important in this case: just as Mohammad Assaf gave Palestine a reason to celebrate, to feel proud of their nation, the movie does the same. It's a change of narrative, a chance to uplift and inspire. The strongest parts are the relationship between young Mohammad and her sister, and seeing them run and bike around the state, just letting the audience take in the setting. Crossing the border and eventually getting the audition were also strong, thrilling parts. Tawfeek Barhom does a decent to good job as grown-up Mohammad, but the Idol parts get a little awkward and Tawfeek is rather poorly edited into the screen singing. There was certainly a struggle there. Despite that though, I found myself moved.