The Green Prince

I don't know how I found this, or why I watched it, but I'm glad I did.

> It's a true story, and it's got mystery, betrayal of many kinds, and in the last place you'd expect, it has love and admiration. It shocked and surprised me in many ways. If given the chance, Hollywood writers couldn't have written a better story than this true one.

> All I can say is, that if you think this isn't the type of doc you usually like, or dismiss it for any other reason, don't. It's not something I normally watch and would dismiss it without another thought, but I didn't for some weird reason and I'm so glad I did. Just watch it.

I'm not going to write too much as I'm not experienced in reviewing and am simply studying film and happened to attend a Documentary Festival to view this documentary without knowing the context of it. I personally found this documentary to be very educational and interesting, the story being told by the real subjects, not actors, as many people think, really makes a difference. It was highly informative but has been described as one sided by many viewers, I suppose you could say so but as John Battsek stated in an interview 'You cannot satisfy both sides'. After watching this documentary there was a debate about it between a Palestinian and an expert in Palestinian politics and history, they described this documentary as 'Israeli Propaganda', however I feel that their reasons for this were more personal than simply critiquing the film. I found it enticing and was drawn into the story with its original footage and narration. It didn't focus on anything but the Hamas movement and the involvement of the Shin Bet, things like the lack of information on certain events such as assassinations etc. but that was not meant to be the focus of this documentary and therefore I find the little information given justified.

This was the opening film at the 34th San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, and what a good choice it was! It is a documentary, of which there were quite a few in this edition of the festival, however, this was not a regular documentary - it left a very strong impact.

Before the film the Director, Nadav Schirman, came on stage and explained that this is a film about two people who have learnt to trust each other. Of course it is much more than that - it is an eye opener! But this is for each of us to reflect upon.

From the first shot of Mosab on screen looking straight at the audience with his piercing, expressive eyes I was mesmerized.

After the film, the two main personalities came on stage: Mosab Hassan Yousef, the author of the book "Son of Hamas" on which this film was based, and Gonen Ben Yitzhak, his spy handler.

The film moved back and forth in time, recounting the events of a ten-year period, since Mosab was seventeen. A time in which he was constantly in danger or in prison. After the film screening, Mosab Hassan Yousef explained that he was striving to avoid unnecessary killings saying: "We are all children of the Devine".

I'm still in that post-amazement daze.

First, I almost never last two seconds on "story telling" documentaries (I need in-the-moment action and suspense). This still had action and suspense for two reasons:

1. The story was incredible.

2. There was plenty of original footage (I saw a review stating that this was just guys in a room talking, but that is untrue - lots of original footage).

You just can't believe that this really happened. Not with a person so high in the Hamas hierarchy.

And there was no boring build-up. I hate having to "invest" time, risking my time for an unknown pay-off. The story, editing, and people grabbed me from the beginning.

All I'm going to say is that you get the perspective of both the Hamas leader's son, and his "handler."

All you need is the capacity for reason, and at least a minimal awareness of the Israel-Palastine conflict; and you will probably enjoy this.

Mosab Hassan Yousef is the eldest son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, a leader of Hamas. He is caught running guns at 17 and imprisoned by the Israelis. He is shocked to find Hamas torturing people suspected of being informers. Israel's security service Shin Bet is able to recruit him and Gonen Ben Yitzhak becomes his handler.

I didn't know anything about this story before watching this movie. I honestly figured that this is a fictionalized account with actors for the first half hour. The style is very plain with Mosab and Gonen talking straight into the camera. The story is so compelling that it is utterly riveting. I do wonder why he did what he did. He gives explanations and hints but I'm not sure if there is something more.