In the Land of Pomegranates (2018) User Reviews

Fantastic documentary film

[elizabeth-988-701469 · 10/10 · 9 October 2023]

This is a visually beautiful film. Human stories interlaced. Somehow it evades a binary structure and brings in strands of the political and personal that enlarge. As Geoffrey Stokes wrote in his review, " One thing that's valuable about a film like this is that it shows us places that writing alone leaves too abstracted. Here we get an immediate sense of certain bustling city streets, tranquil farms and other landscapes, perhaps the most piquant and resonant being those that flank the Wall, i.e. The structure that's called a security fence by one side, an apartheid fence by the other. Nearby, Beller visits a spirited, sardonic Israeli woman who's painfully aware that she's chosen to live in a place where her children could easily be picked off by snipers."

Young adult Israelis and Palestinians meet to try to understand each other.

[maurice_yacowar · 9/10 · 8 May 2018]

This long, uncompromising documentary demonstrates the intractability of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. At the heart of the film, a group of young adults from both sides convene in Germany for a retreat to hear each other's case. The hope is they may reach some new understanding, some acceptance, some softening in the battle lines. The convenor is a Palestinian man who converted from hard-liner to hopeful. His hope continues in the face of no apparent reforms. Both sides are passionate and articulate in making their case. The few signs of softening are on the Israeli side. The young Palestinians won't abandon the Right of Return that would shatter the Jewish state. The discussion is intercut with three other lines of action. One is news footage of the violent eruption of terrorist attack and IDF harshness on duty. In another, a settler on the inner edge of the Green Line discusses her dreams of a secure life and the encroaching assault upon her home. Finally, a Palestinian mother leaves her family behind to bring her young son to Israel for a life-saving heart operation. To the Israeli doctor no-one in need of his help is an enemy. Spoiler alert: the kid survives. He returns a few years later with his father for a checkup. There's a younger doctor, the patient is older and still resntful, but the violent environment persists. If the latter subplot advantages the Israeli position, there is an unsettling coda. A couple of cute little Israeli children talk about surviving the tensions of a constant existential threat. But they feel safe, being relatively remote from Gaza. That is an illusory security. With their rockets and invasive tunnels Gaza remains a serious danger. Even more threatening would be converting the West Bank to another Gaza. This dramatic circumspect debate allows no sentimental or optimistic conclusion. The title is suggestive. I don't remember any mention of the pomegranate in the film. But the fruit is an effective symbol. The pomme grande is "the great apple," so it's sometimes taken to be the apple in the Garden of Eden, representing the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Besides, when you bite into it it bleeds. That makes it almost human.