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I viewed this documentary as part of a community program designed to bring Israelis and Palestinians together in Columbia, Missouri. Simone Bitton the director flew in from Paris especially for this event. I would highly recommend this film for someone who already knows quite a bit about the conflict between the two peoples, but not if you intend on going to actually learn more about the tension as I had intended. The film only focuses on the sentiments of the people regarding the construction of the barrier which allows the viewer to relate more without the influence of politics. Some of the construction scenes drag on leaving some viewers bored but there are also unexpected moments of humor. If one can sit through the whole thing and keep up with the subtitles there is a lot to gather and understand from the documentary as a whole.

Simone Bitton etches a haunting portrait of one of the most profound geographical markers of our time: the wall of separation constructed by Israel that shields it from adjacent, conflicted Palestinian territories. With masterful restraint, Bitton both abstracts her subject and extracts its key contradiction as a strangulating protector of life.

Traversing various regions, Bitton interviews Palestinian and Jewish subjects (many off camera) regarding the wall's significance. These, along with an Israeli Defense official interviewed in his office, alternately decry Palestinian terrorism and alleged crimes, or term the construction of the wall a disguised Israeli landgrab. Many question the wall's efficacy and its long-range benefits, bemoaning their separation from neighbors and friends.

Bitton, herself an Arab and a Jew, presents the barrier in stark visual schemes that emphasize its stultifying surface and scarring of idyllic landscapes where, previously, "sides" might not have been so distinct. This exquisite visual aridity, an austere editorial pace, and magnificently layered ambient sound create an atmosphere of stagnation and futile clamor, fairly compelling the wall to speak its own irony. It is through such sparing means that Bitton most strikingly confronts her implacable subject, its dialogue of silence implicitly debating all the things that silence signifies and conceals.— Shannon Kelley

I was shocked to learn that the Israeli-built "Wall" entirely encircles one small Palestinian town, whose name I cannot remember now, and also completely encircles the city of Gaza. The question leaps to mind: what's the difference between this encirclement of a Palestinian town and the large city of Gaza and the creation of the Warsaw Ghetto or the pogroms instituted by Hitler. This encirclement is just the beginning; worse will likely follow in the name of "security". Interviewee after interviewee on both sides, Israeli and Palestinian alike, say it's a waste of money. Scene after scene of residents scaling the wall to get to jobs on the other side were eloquent testimony to its ineffectiveness. The comment by the Israeli military chief overseeing construction of the wall, "Both sides of the wall are ours. We're the rulers." says it all.

The Wall was a decent film for its kind, but was definitely biased against the wall itself and the Israeli government that's erecting it. It appears as though the film went out of its way to find both Jews and Arabs that would go on film saying the wall was pointless, while portraying the Israeli government as being paranoid and unconcerned with the negative effect the wall will have on the population. They did not show average people who support the wall, nor did they show the attacks that justify having the wall.

Basically, though there are two sides to every story, this film only shows one.

This documentary provides an even handed examination of the long Wall that the Israelis are building in Palestine. It allows the people living there to speak for themselves.

While the situation is bad for the Palestinians, it is equally appalling for Israelis on the front line. The documentary doesn't attempt to explore solutions.

It examines the personal and cultural costs of severing the Israelis from the Palestinians. Often, the long term social consequences are at odds with the short term political aims. Can the Israelis regain their sanity? Can the Palestinians find compromise? This is one of the defining struggles of the 20th Century.

Postscript November 2005: It is unfortunately that some people don't understand the film's POV. The film-maker chose to focus on the presence of the wall (being built) and its human consequences. This documentary is not about the Arab-Israeli conflict (which stretches back to the British Mandate and earlier); nor about who is right or wrong. That is why it is entitled "The Wall", and not "The Intifada".

Why has she chosen to ignore the roots of the conflict? One obvious reason is that any discussion of politics leads to polarization, which obscures the reality of human suffering.

The Internet is such a powerful enabler. It's a pity that it cannot bestow instant wisdom on IMDb commentators.

Postscript May 2006: What is a documentary? One definition is "A film or TV program presenting the facts about a person or event".

Therefore, a documentary has to be non-fictional. Does a documentary have to be analytical? Would a long look at the Wall serve us better than a recital of the antagonists' cases?

In the western tradition, there is a clear sense of right and wrong. We attain enlightenment through a careful analysis of the facts. The truth allows us to judge a case and declare for one claimant over another.

This judgmental approach works when there is a clear difference between right and wrong. For example, the Nazis had to be opposed because they turned German nationalism (rational) into the pathology of ultra-nationalism (irrational). In retrospect, the Nazis are roundly condemned for the consequences of their pathology, though there is blame enough for those who did not oppose the rise of ultra-nationalism.

Western rationality fails in the case of a tragedy, where right opposes right. That is, the right of the Israeli State to exist against the right of displaced Palestinians to return home. No analytical documentary can help us here. No legalist judgement can deliver a 'fair' verdict.

What is the intention of the film-maker? The Wall itself is the symbol of the pathology that has sprung up in the Palestinian-Zionist conflict. Perhaps, empathy will transcend judgement, race, ideology and hatred. Is that focused enough?