Salt of this Sea

What happens when a Brooklyn-born woman fulfils her life-long desire to ‘return’ home to Israel to see the land her Palestinian ancestors were ejected from 60 years ago? What happens when she meets a young Palestinian boy whose ambition, contrary to hers, is to leave Palestine forever? What happens when they — tired and angry of the constraints that dictate their lives — take things into their own hands to grab their rights, even if it’s by illegal means?

Answering all this and many more questions is film-maker Annamarie Jacir’s Salt Of This Sea. It’s the story of Soraya who discovers that her grandfather’s savings were frozen in a bank account in Jaffa when he was exiled in 1948. Determined to reclaim what is hers, she arrives in Israel. However, she faces her first stumbling block at the passport-control booth at Ben-Gurion airport when the authorities discover that her family hailed from Jaffa before 1948. She is interrogated and strip-searched at customs.

She encounters her next hurdle after arriving in Ramallah. Here, at the bank she’s told all Palestinian deposits before the formation of Israel had been wiped clean. Despite trying her best she fails to recover her grandfather’s money. She is also informed that she can’t apply for a Palestinian passport.

Determined to stick back, she finds a job at a restaurant. Here, she meets a young Palestinian waiter Emad. Despite a scholarship awaiting him in Canada, can't get a visa out.

Frustrated and bitter, Soraya decides to take things in her own hands. She, along with Emad and his film-maker friend Marwan, robs the bank to get back what she feels is hers. Running from the law, the trio escapes into Israel. Here, Soraya and Emad visit their ancestral homes.

Some fine moments in the film include the scene where Emad locates the ruins of his family village. Standing amidst a half-standing structure, Soraya and Emad become aware of their intimacy. The moment filled with long gazes and gentle gestures lingers in memory long after the film is over.

Moreover, the scenes at the start — black and white news footage from 1948 of Israeli tanks pulling down houses, panicked refugees running helter-skelter — are also noteworthy. Even the camerawork is brilliant at times, especially the scenes that capture the open spaces and shattered rubble as Soraya travels throughout Jaffa, Ramallah and Jerusalem.

The movie premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Since then it has toured numerous festivals and earned awards and acclaim. Overall, it’s the sort of movie which is both informative and thought-provoking. Soraya’s fury, Emad’s despair and moments like a brief glimpse of a baby being passed over a barbed wire border fence from father to mother make it one of the better Palestinian productions in recent times.

THE WORLD-CINEMA ORGY

Over the last five days, I happened to see quite a few movies — 11 to be precise. At the end of the week I surprised myself… I had actually spent close to 25 of the last 120 hours in watching movies.
This entire experience left me wanting for more — for more such world-class movies! Because I’ve never seen such great films — each one better than the other — in a long, long time. If I hadn’t watched those, I would have surely missed out on something.
Once the ‘movie orgy’ — as I would like to call it — was over, I decided to devote some time to review each film. And guess what… I surprised myself with the reviews I wrote. I say ‘surprised’ because I’ve never ever written a review before this. So I didn’t know where and how to start. But eventually the brilliance of each movie made it a roller-coaster ride for me — and the reviews turned out quite good… yes, for someone writing a review for the first time, it was indeed a satisfying and enriching experience…

Over the next few blogs, all that I’ve decided to do is publish those reviews one by one.
Here they go… starting with five films of Alfred Hitchcock — the undisputed king of mystery and mayhem.

Of thrills and chills

Mistaken identity, innocents falsely accused, betrayal, hair-raising escapes, double-crosses etc., are some of the recurring themes in Alfred Hitchcock’s movies.
As a tribute to the film-maker, Palador recently launched a collector’s edition boxset of five DVDs containing some of his earliest works. The movies include The Manxman (1929), Blackmail (1929), Murder (1930), The Skin Game (1931) and Rich And Strange (1931).

 The Manxman – Hitchcock’s last silent film – is the story of two friends in love with the same woman. Rejected by the girl's father when one of them goes to a foreign land to seek his fortune, the other sees his chance with the girl. The Manxman is remembered for its stunning scenery, shot on location in Cornwall.
 Hitchcock made the transition to sound film with Blackmail. Here, a woman accidentally murders a man. She is seen by a criminal. When the woman’s policeman boyfriend is assigned the case, the criminal blackmails them. Hitchcock shot almost the entire film in sound, back-to-back with a silent version for distribution to the many cinemas not equipped for sound. The result was a critical and commercial triumph and confirmed Hitchcock as an acclaimed director.
 In Murder, an actor is found standing over the body of a murdered colleague and has no memory of what happened. The jury sentences her to death. One juror disagrees and, using his theatrical skills, probes into the case only to discover the real murderer in a thrilling climax. Hitchcock has a cameo role near the midpoint of the film, as a passerby in front of the house where the murder took place. The film contains a number of innovations, including what some believe to be the first use of a voice-over.
 The Skin Game revolves around two rival families. When the aristocratic patriarch of one of families resorts to blackmail to settle a dispute over land rights, it leads to disastrous results. Hitchcock was, reportedly, bored by the project, but entertained himself with one particular shot – the climactic scene – which, however, didn’t even make it into the completed film.
 Rich and Strange is about a married couple who go on a world cruise to escape their humdrum lives. But their relationship begins to fall apart when they both become attracted to other people. The film is notable for the techniques utilised by Hitchcock that would reappear later in his career. Most notable are the sets, including a recreation of a full-sized ship in a water tank.