Rated MA15+
2 hrs 12
mins
Palace
Electric
3.5 Stars
Review by ©
Jane Freebury
This film is
from the Middle East, written and directed by Rami Alayan and Muayad Alayan,
and about infidelity. An affair between a Palestinian man and an Israeli
woman who met as he made deliveries at her café in West Jerusalem, and the
consequences of the liaison in a place where fidelity to one’s tribe is
paramount.
The Reports
on Sarah and Saleem was made
with the assistance of production finance from countries like Germany and the
Netherlands, as the Palestinian film industry is virtually non-existent.
It opens at
the home of bakery delivery driver, Saleem, making tea for himself and his
wife. The image of domestic harmony is suddenly ruptured, like a fist through a
wall, in a raid by security forces who drag Saleem (Adeeb Safadi) away to
interrogate him about an Israeli woman that he is supposed to have recruited.
What could
the man have done to deserve such treatment? Flashbacks explain, as by that
point the affair is over.
One night
after meeting and making love in Saleem’s delivery van, as per usual, Sarah
(Sivane Kretchner), had accompanied him on a delivery run into the West Bank,
with hiding in the back of his van. The risky venture accomplished without
incident, Saleem suggests a drink at a Bethlehem bar. Sarah agrees reluctantly,
but they are betrayed by another patron who realises that she isn’t Dutch at
all, as she claims, but Israeli.
After Saleem
is hauled in for questioning and Sarah’s husband, a colonel in the Israeli army
on undercover assignments, becomes aware of his wife’s infidelity, there is
hell to pay. It is clear that no one can believe that the affair is just an
affair, there has to be more to it.
It’s hard to
imagine a worse predicament. Ensnared in a web of misunderstanding and
paranoia, Sarah and Saleem become trapped between sides in the vicious and
intractable feud that is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
How the
affair had begun is not explored, unfortunately, only explained by scenes
showing how the couple met across the counter at the café that Sarah runs. The
opening titles claim the film is inspired by true events, so more insight into
such risky liaisons would have been interesting. If relationships like this can
and do happen, can we imagine there is hope yet for ending conflict?
It was also
surprising to learn that alcohol is served at bars with intimate dance floors
in the Palestinian Territories. A vigorous sex scene or two in the back of the
van is another surprise. A lot less pleasant is the jolt when, on the
road to Bethlehem, Israel’s massive security wall suddenly looms into view, a
foreboding and futile barrier to interaction.
 |
| Saleem's wife Bisan (Maisa Abd Elhadi) |
Towards the
end, however, the deliberate pacing seems spot on. As our attention turns more
and more to Saleem’s pregnant wife, Bisan (Maisa Abd Elhadi), and as a relationship
develops between her and Sarah, the film becomes very moving and powerful.
Jane's
reviews are also published at her blog, the Film Critics
Circle of Australia, and broadcast on ArtSound FM 92.7 MHz
