Reviews

It's interesting to contrast this film with Elle, a much bolder, or louder, treatment of a similar idea. I think both are good.

The screenplay is admirably reticent, unafraid of banality, and scrupulously realistic. All the supporting characters have stuff going on in their own lives, which we often only glimpse, and which reflect tangentially on the theme. But the real gold here are the performances, which I found endlessly fascinating and believable, subtle, and sometimes surprising - like life.

It's a film that grows in authority as it stays true to its characters, exploring the effect of trauma on a relationship which is not strong enough to survive it. I liked the way we are invited to interrogate the boyfriend's character as much as the man who committed the rape (a rape scene that is extremely well handled). Although some have taken issue with the abortion subplot, it works very well to force the issue when she discovers she needs a consort to drive her home.

It is an abrupt ending (in keeping with the aesthetic of sharp, propulsive editing that keeps the film flowing), but also a proper ending: finally, she is taking a stand.

This extraordinary documentary depicts a village's struggle against an ever-encroaching Israeli settlement, and the security barrier which deprives them of half their land. Briskly told, it contains visceral images of clashes between demonstrators and the Israeli army - the film- maker has really got in there, and often from behind and among the tear-gas wielding Israeli soldiers. Not just tear-gas; one casually shocking moment witnesses a Palestinian prisoner being shot in the leg by his Israeli captor, with other soldiers standing by his side. Another memorable episode, which Kafka might have appreciated, has the film-maker wakened by soldiers. His home has been declared to be within a Closed Military Zone, and therefore he has to stop filming.

Yet the law is not merely a tool of oppression; with the help of Israeli activists, the village successfully appeals to the Israeli Supreme Court to have the fence moved, so that the villagers may regain access to some of their land (even if the settlers have burned the olive trees on it). The film is co-directed by an Israeli, and it's claim to greatness lies in its often implicit depiction of the inextricable entwinement of Palestinian and Israeli lives. When the film-maker, in an accident that a fictional film would reject as overly symbolic, crashes into the wall, it is a Tel Aviv hospital that likely saves his life (although, not cheaply).

The film also focuses on the youngest of the film-maker's four sons. And we are left wondering: what happens to a child who has witnessed what he has witnessed?