The Attack (2012) Reviews

• A dark and troubling film

  Red-1252013-07-09

  The Attack (2012) was co-written and directed by Ziad Doueiri. This is a dark and troubling film about a dark and troubling situation--the Israeli-Palestinian relationship. The gifted actor Ali Suliman plays Dr. Amin Jaafari, a Muslim surgeon who has chosen to live and work in Tel Aviv. He is so successful that he receives a prestigious medical honor from the Israelis. His world is shattered when his wife is killed in a terrorist attack. As if that's not horror enough, his wife is accused of being the suicide bomber who triggered the explosion. After that, we follow the protagonist as he tries to learn the truth about what role--if any--his wife played in the bombing. I think this is an excellent film--well written, well directed, and well acted. I'm not an expert in Middle East politics, but I think the movie was made stronger by the director's refusal to take sides in the tense Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A friend who is an expert in the area told me that the Israeli population is not monolithically opposed to the Palestinian cause. An entire spectrum of beliefs about the conflict and its solution is found in Israeli. Unfortunately, here in the United States opinion is much more rigid and monolithic. The only fault I found with the movie is that sometimes the plot wasn't completely clear to me. It was probably crystal clear to someone who knows the situation and the languages, but I don't, so I wasn't always sure exactly what was happening. Other than that, the film was truly superb. The Attack carries a modest 6.7 IMDb rating. Don't be thrown off by that rating--it's too low. I gave the film a rating of 9, and could easily have given it a 10.) This is a movie worth seeking out and seeing. Just be prepared to be discouraged by the political reality of a problem that apparently doesn't have a solution.

• Balanced film about Israeli-Palestinian conflict

  rubenm2013-06-23

  This film, about the complex relations between Arabs and Jews in Israel, has been banned in the Arab world because it has been made in Israel, with Israeli actors. At the same time, it has been criticized by radical Zionists in Israel because it shows how Palestinians think. Director Doueiri says it's a good thing that the criticism comes from both sides: it proves that he made a very balanced film. But the flip side is that his film gets much less exposure than it deserves. 'The Attack' shows how the life of a successful Arab surgeon, living in Tel Aviv, is turned upside down when his wife doesn't come home one night. It turns out she has blown herself to pieces in a suicide attack. The surgeon tries to find out how the woman he loved could turn into a terrorist, killing 17 people, including 11 small children. During his search to understand her motivations, he starts to question his own life. Being a successful Israeli Arab, he has turned his back to his roots in Nablus, and has become friends with Jews. At the end of the film, he has begun to understand a little bit about his wife's motivations, and, to the astonishment of his Jewish friends, refuses to give information about the attack to the Israeli authorities. The film captures this internal struggle of one man very well. The dilemmas and paradoxes in his life are symbolic for the problems of the Israel-Palestine conflict. In the first scene, when he receives an important Israeli medical prize, he says it shouldn't be an issue that the winner is an Arab. But a few hours later, after the deadly attack, one of the Jewish victims refuses to be treated by this prize-winning Arab doctor. Although the doctor wishes to be just an Israeli citizen, regardless of religion, the facts and circumstances make this impossible. Director Doueiri shows the doctor's struggle in sober images. He chooses not to show the deadly attack, but to let the explosion be heard by the doctor, having lunch in the open air restaurant of the hospital. The same cinematographic distance is used when showing the situation in Nablus, on the West Bank. The Palestinians are not shown as helpless victims, but as proud people in their own right. This is not a film about fanatics or religious zealots. This is a film about ordinary people, doing their daily jobs and trying to cope with the difficult situation that is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

• A gripping suspense thriller and an intimate love story

  howard.schumann2013-08-12

  Based on a novel by Yasmina Khadra, Lebanese director Ziad Douiere's The Attack is about a man without a country. Unlike Philip Nolan in Edward Everett Hale's classic novella who has been exiled from his country forever, however, Dr. Amin Jafaari (Ali Suliman), a respected Israeli Arab doctor, never had a country to begin with. The film, about a man whose life is turned upside down in the course of a single moment, is a gripping suspense thriller, an intimate love story, a poignant personal drama, and a powerful political statement. What it adds up to is superior entertainment. Unfortunately, the film has been banned by the Arab League for the crime of filming in Israel, limiting its potential to reach a bigger audience. The film opens with Dr. Jafaari delivering his acceptance speech at a prestigious medical conference where he has been honored as the first Arab ever to receive an important medical award. Oddly, his wife Siham (Reymond Amselem) is visiting relatives in Nazareth and is not with him to celebrate the apex of his career. Before going on stage, he receives a call from Siham but tells her that he cannot talk and will call her later. That is the last time that he will ever hear her voice. The next day, while at the hospital, Amin hears a loud explosion and knows from experience that a suicide bombing has taken place and will bring many injured and dying victims to the hospital. Dr. Jafaari, who has always treated both Arabs and Israelis, works feverishly to save as many lives as possible, even though a Jewish victim refuses to be treated by an Arab and spits in his face. Amin's world of safety and respect is torn apart when he learns that his wife may be the suicide bomber responsible for the death of 17 people including 11 children. Arrested and mercilessly grilled by a relentless Israel Intelligence officer (Uri Gavriel), he is told that the bomber has been positively identified by forensic evidence as his wife but he is in denial. It is only after he receives a letter from Siham in which she tells him not to hate her that he becomes convinced of the impossible. The letter is mailed from Nablus, a Palestinian city on the West Bank, but Amin withholds the information from his friend Raveed (Dvir Benedek), a high-ranked police officer. Provided sanctuary by Kim Yehuda (Evgenia Dodina), a Russian colleague, Amin is distraught by the realization that his wife of fifteen years had a secret life that she never shared with him. Mirroring Denis Villeneuve's 2010 film Incendies, he travels to Nablus at great personal risk to trace the roots of Siham's involvement, questioning family and friends to find answers. As Amin seeks out those responsible, he is told by his nephew Adel (Karim Saleh) who was deeply involved, "Something snapped in her head," and by Sheik Marwan (Ramzi Makdessi) that he has no business there and to return to Tel Aviv before he brings the Israeli Intelligence down on his people (why Israeli intelligence did not follow him to Nablus is not explained). An Arab leader in the Christian church tells him, "We're not Islamists and we're not fundamentalists, either. We are only the children of a ravaged, despised people, fighting with whatever means we can to recover our homeland and our dignity," and adds, "I never met your wife," the priest declares, "I wish I had." When Amin learns that Sahim is considered a hero and a martyr with her picture posted all over the city, he begins to feel trapped between his loyalty to the Arab cause and to his Israeli colleagues who opened so many doors for him and his wife. Visiting the rubble of Jenin, a Palestinian refugee camp that was bombed by the Israelis, he starts to sense the anger behind his wife's radicalization. Doueiri presents a balanced picture of the feelings on both sides, and The Attack is not a propaganda film. Although it is about the seemingly impassable political divide that separates the Israeli and Arab worlds, the film is basically a look at the human cost of the conflict. A sensitive and poetic story of the love between two people shown in flashbacks, the film asks the question – can we ever really know another person, even those we have been intimate with for many years? Can we ever know what goes on in the deepest layer of their being, how they "sense" the world? Can we even know ourselves, who we really are? For Amin, who must put the pieces of his life back together, there are many questions, but few answers, only emotional scars that will last a lifetime.

• Poem for peace

  dvc51592013-08-30

  Dr. Amin Jaafari (Ali Suliman) is a highly successful Palestinian doctor living in Tel Aviv with accolades to his name and a beautiful wife. This all changes when a suicide attack rocks the city and kills dozens of children - and his wife is named the culprit. Why, oh why must it be his wife, he asks. This opening sets up Ziad Doueiri's "The Attack", an extremely engrossing film which begins as a gripping mystery of a man in search of answers when none are willing are give it to him. The film eventually evolves into an introspection of the human condition, a commentary on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the harsh reality of love lost in the face of truth. As Amin digs deeper into the mystery, allies are lost and conflict is escalated. The Israeli police roughs him up, thinking he's hiding something. His colleagues start to avoid him. Even the Israeli bombing victims refuse his services on the operating table itself. All of this to an exasperated Amin confused as to why his sweet, loving wife hid this life of hers from him for years. The basic answer does not satisfy him. He wants more. In the face of tragedy, people rush to judge. Amin is a decent man who aims to help people, but one horrible act results in him getting discriminated from his friends and his house getting trashed and spray- painted by angry neighbours. Doueiri and his writers add subtle tension to these sequences by adding moments and dialogue that reveal a stark hatred for the other race that, when triggered by the attack, is unlocked without getting filtered. They can only tolerate so much up until a certain point, in which case they feel they deserve the right to berate those tolerated. Doueiri underlines these moments subtly without over-doing it with hysteria and anger This gives a major strength to the film and its lead, Suliman, who is terrific in the role as he subtly conveys a wide range of emotions throughout the film, perfectly embracing the role of a desperate, confused and hurt person which carries the film for its duration. The prejudice is the least of his concern - Amin goes out of the city and into the West Bank, looking for more clues. He will not be happy with the answers he will get. This later sequence underlines the fear and paranoia that one side has with the other, something the Tel Aviv sequences only hint at. As Amin waits for a character to give him answers, other men try to chase him away, saying that he'll attract unwanted attention from the city onto them. Fear paralyzes both sides and leaves no choice but prejudice. Interspersed with both halves of the film are flashback sequences of happier times, with romantic moments between Amin and his wife. He refuses to let go of these memories and initially insists that his wife is innocent, blinded by her pure appearance. When it becomes apparent that she did indeed blow herself up, he shifts his attention to who or what caused his wife to do that. His love for his wife is so touching that it culminates in the heartbreaking, poignant final shot of the film. Ziad Doueiri's film met with controversy from the Arab nation for being filmed in Israel. Art imitating life, the irony of it. Doueiri made the brilliant decision of not picking a side, focusing instead on Amin's plight and how it is effectively destroyed by the paranoia of both sides of the conflict. There is no simple answer to solve the conflict, and there will be consequences for not choosing a side. This is a brave, commendable film that may be difficult to watch, but it is a nerve- wracking film which could also double as a poem for peace in that troubled area. In times like these, a film like this is greatly appreciated, and Doueiri deserves every accolade he gets for this film. One of the year's very best films.

• A thought provoking movie

  bendssv2013-08-25

  While the movie presents in general an unbiased and, for the most part balanced, view of the mutual Israeli - Palestinian misunderstandings, for lack of a better word, I feel that at least on one occasion the director missed to give a counterargument to an obviously fanatic Palestinian religious priest figure's assertion to the effect that the Jews do not belong in "their" territory. Nevertheless, the director does a masterful work in depicting the deep and troublesome moral issues faced by those brave individuals who attempt to bridge the chasm dividing the two "adversaries". The photography and acting are outstanding to say the least. However, it is most unfortunate, if not morally criminal, for the Arab League, I believe, to ban this movie on the absurd grounds that it was filmed in Israel, and not in "Palestine". This action just adds further insult to injury.