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Divine Intervention is up for the Oscars this year. Last year it missed out because Palestine was not a country. The Oscars are bit like the modern Olympics. They are more about the flag and the country, and less about sport and filmmaking. Palestine is still not a country, but the movie is in the running this year, and that is a reason to rejoice.
Rana’s Wedding is Palestine’s contribution to the art of filmmaking this year. It is every bit a masterpiece as Divine Intervention. Both movies are about a sweet and gentle romance with the cruel and absurd Israeli occupation as the backdrop. Rana’s Wedding lacks the big movie production qualities of its predecessor, but it makes up for it with the sweet lilting pace of an Iranian movie.
The two movies are very different on how they show the insane brutality of the occupation. Divine Intervention used some imaginative fantasies to express Palestinian feelings of helplessness. Rana’s Wedding just leaves the Israelis alone. They are simply present to do their duties of occupation. They do not go out of their way to do anything nasty, aggressive or stupid. In a fit of panic and frustration, Rana tries to break through a roadblock. The Israeli soldier is gentle but firm about pushing her back. The heavily armored soldiers and settlers do not even look any different from the Arabs that surround them. They quietly go about their business, almost as if they too are the victims of the same savage system.
Rana’s Wedding also exposes us to a wider experience of the occupation. We witness the permit process, home demolitions, Israeli squatters and the ever-present roadblocks. People glide through the discomfort and humiliation with gentle grace and creativity.
Rana has a few hours to get married or leave the country with her father. She starts off on a frantic little adventure. We see the beauty and humanity of homes and streets under occupation with great tenderness. She manages to locate her goofball boyfriend and his pal. The story of a quest movie gently switches gears to a buddy movie. Rana leans in from the middle of the back seat in classic roadie fashion. She is less the femme fatale of Divine Intervention, and more the unassuming champion of last year’s Emilie. There is freshness in her every move. With Palestine and Iran, the Axis of Evil division of world cinema is looking to go far into the filmmaking playoffs.
The two movies are very different on how they show the insane brutality of the occupation. Divine Intervention used some imaginative fantasies to express Palestinian feelings of helplessness. Rana’s Wedding just leaves the Israelis alone. They are simply present to do their duties of occupation. They do not go out of their way to do anything nasty, aggressive or stupid. In a fit of panic and frustration, Rana tries to break through a roadblock. The Israeli soldier is gentle but firm about pushing her back. The heavily armored soldiers and settlers do not even look any different from the Arabs that surround them. They quietly go about their business, almost as if they too are the victims of the same savage system.