Omar Written and directed by Hany Abu-Assad Palestine, 2013 Within its first scene, Omar recalls the romantic actions of Shakespeare’s Romeo, as our title character climbs up one wall and jumps down another, both via rope, to approach the shy and reserved girl he’s got his eyes on. But as star-crossed as these lovers may be, …
Omar Directed by Hany Abu-Assad Palestine, 2013 Omar (Adam Bakri in his feature-film debut) considers himself a Palestinian freedom fighter. The Israeli authorities in the central West Bank consider him a terrorist. After participating in an assassination under the guidance of Tarek (Iyad Hoorani) and alongside his childhood friend Amjad (Samer Bisharat) he’s arrested and …
Omar Directed by Hany Abu-Assad Palestine, 2013 The chronic, seemingly unsolvable Israeli/Palestinian conflict provides the perfect backdrop for narrative storytelling, as all the pieces are in place for a tense, personalized historical rendering. In fact, two other films this year have already addressed the issue: The Attack, from Lebanese director Ziad Douerir, and Zaytoun, from …
The chronic, seemingly unsolvable Israeli/Palestinian conflict provides the perfect backdrop for narrative storytelling, as all the pieces are in place for a tense, personalized historical rendering. In fact, two other films this year have already addressed the issue: The Attack, from Lebanese director Ziad Douerir, and Zaytoun, from Israeli director Eran Riklis; each look at the personal toll caused by war. Inherently polemical discourse rarely makes much of an impact on the opposing side, and while bridge-gapping is sometime present in films dealing with this Middle Eastern crisis, it’s understandable when a more hardened approach is taken. Such is the case with Hany Abu-Assad’s Omar, a well-made Palestinian film that presents the experience with little interest in broaching peaceful dialogue