Beautiful peaceful movie showing daily life inside Nazareth Arabic city. The final scene with Athaan voice in the background reminds me of my home.
Some people may find the movie slow, but it's the kind of movies you watch to relax.
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khalednazal21 June 2019
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sakarkral12 April 2018Humorous drama is the most novel weapon of the war-torn communities. Instead of in-your-face depiction of sufferings and tragedies which leads to a quick rise-and-fall of emotional reaction (sigh, tsk tsk, and go on as before), humorous drama tackles, tickles, and trigger the thoughts of its audience. "Et maintenant on va où?" by Nadine Labaki was a very very successful one in this sense. Now another female director from another Arabian country raises the bar as high.
Firstly, the invitation delivery is technically a very good idea to take the audience to a tour among the portraits from the Christian Arab population of Palestine. This way, while cutting every scene short and painless enough to keep the viwever attentive, the sense of continuity doesn't get disrupted as if watching a talking-heads documentary.
But what is more important is the content. There are two main characters, the father and the son. We see the father telling lies (doesn't matter white or not) to comfort fellow citizens, or compromising with the occupants etc. On the other hand the son is unbending in his political and even asthetical standards. But, as time passes by, we understand how hard is the father's struggle to unite his "family" (read as his "nation") again back in Palestine. All his flaws are actually developed to achieve this aim. And yes, his son's discourse is flawless, because he enjoys being free from the hardships of the everyday life in Palestine and has no concerns about the reunion of the Palestenians in the fatherland.
So apparently the father represents the practical, real Palestine whereas the son represents the ideal. But the clash of these two is not at all theatrical, nor didactical. The dialogues are so real that in the end the viewer does not feel herself "injected" by the director's ideas, she just starts to rethink about and compare her ideals and practices. -
jerrypike-0955910 October 2017Well worth watching to normalise your view about Palestine and what life is like for Palestinian people when they are not at war with Israelis, which is what the news seems to focus upon in the main.
It operates on various levels and is well put together. Another good movie to undo the stereo-typing that tends to afflict the reporting of communities and countries around the world. -
maurice_yacowar10 July 2018Palestinian writer/director Annemarie Jacir uses the male-bonding Road Movie genre to provide a cross-sectional survey of Palestinians' civilian life in Nazareth. As father and son hand-deliver invitations to the daughter's wedding they recover warm memories - and revive old tensions. The father raises the son's hackles with his reflexive sneer at a homosexual, his old school moralism, his fibs of convenience. Of course, in this troubled area if anything can go wrong it will. That includes the mistaken date on the printed invitations. A melee erupts when a motorist jumps the line at a gas station. As the father is a popular local teacher he's well-regarded in the community. But that comes at a cost too - his need to appease and even to befriend the Jewish watchdog in his school. The father is the family pragmatist. To assure his neighbours he fibs about his son's career, his unlikely return, his romantic commitment. That's why the father stayed. On the phone he describes the superlative - and apparently mythic - beauties of the land, contrary to the visible evidence of broken neighbourhoods, amassed garbage, the general ruins. He has been living in the real Palestine, serving his family and the community, without the romanticism of any myth or cause. Hence the film's title: Duty. In contrast to his staying there to raise his two children, his wife wanted more than that life could give her. She abandoned her family to run off with a lover to America. Her eagerly-awaited return for her daughter's wedding depends on her dying husband. The father stills feels her humiliation. Son Shadi similarly escaped the confines of his father's life. He made a career in architecture and found a modern love in Italy. His lover and her family are more militant, the PLO. His father disdains of their lavish living abroad, the self-service and futility of their warfare and the amorality of his son's relationship. His dignity lay in staying and serving his community at home, however that may have compromised him. We hear about the school's Jewish spy Ronnie and we see two Israeli soldiers enjoying felafel, but otherwise the film focuses on the Arab community. Several of the friends are Arab Christians, as we see from their decorated Christmas trees, the Santa market and the remarks about having "a winter wedding." A neighbour worries about the growth of ISIS in the neighbourhood. We don't often see such a spectrum of Arab life in the area. Hence the hosts' offers of coffee segues into booze. One young girl, her family out, tries to seduce Shadi. His father's old school-mate Georgette extends a similar invitation to him. The cultural cross-section extends to the car radio. The father wants to play the old style traditional singer who will perform at the wedding. The son prefers the nostalgia of Procol Harum's "Whiter Shade of Pale" - which collects additional irony when the father accidentally kills "an Israeli dog" - that's white. A news report addresses the corruption charges against PM Netanyahu and his wife's denials. Even on this spectrum of swarthy there's the implication of white privilege. Despite this careful structure and schematic, the performances, script and direction give this film the saving sense of life caught in the flow. It's a rich glimpse into particular lives in a troubled place and time we more commonly experience from the larger stories given headlines.
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singlush9 March 2024A stunning showcase of everyday life in Occupied Palestine, particularly Nazareth. The portrayal of father and son was so beautiful, showing the loving and complex relationships with families and children who leave their home countries. Although this film focuses on one particular father and son, I imagine it will be relatable for many. The other characters were wonderful too and you could really imagine the lives they lived. I loved the portrayal of community connections. This film was full of love and very delicate yet informative. It portrayed the unfair treatment that Palestinians have to go through daily, from a very human perspective. Intertwining the harsh realities of life for Palestinians in Israeli Occupation, with the love of community and portrayal of everyday life. Extremely well done.
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qui_j11 March 2020This is a movie that just drags on and on, uses a lot of improvised dialog and has a silly ending. It was a total waste of time, even for someone who is very familiar with the culture of the region. Must have been produced as some kind of tax break venture.
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muguetdemai15 October 2018After hearing about the movie, I finally watched it... But it was so painful to watch because it reached the point of becoming boring. The idea is good, but the story and treatment were unsuccessful. The movie's pace is so slow it contributes to boring the spectator. And the ending leaves us hanging on. And frankly I wanted more...