Stars: Adam Bakri, Samer Bisharat, Waleed Zuaiter, Leem Lubany, Iyad Hourani
Director: Hany Abu-Assad
Oscar History: 1 nomination (Best Foreign Language Film-Palestine)
Snap Judgment Ranking: 3/5 stars
The foreign film category frequently
plays host to films that for lack of a better term are relatively
forgettable. This isn’t to say
that they are bad, per se, but just aren’t particularly interesting or
memorable. That’s the case with Omar, arguably the least well-known or
discussed film nominated for Best Foreign Language film last year.
(Spoilers Ahead) The film
plods on familiar territory for anyone who has seen some of the cinema coming
out of Palestine in recent years.
The movie is about Omar (Bakri), a man who spends his days in Palestine
baking bread and his night plotting the death of armed Israelis with his two
friends: the tempestuous Tarek (Hoorani) and the untalented Amjad
(Bisharat). Omar is also hiding his
relationship with Tarek’s younger sister Nadia (Lubany).
The film twists quite well, and works
probably at its best as a straight-up thriller rather than a political film or
commentary on the situation in Palestine.
The movie shifts quite frequently, with Tarek eventually being killed (we
later learn in a pre-meditated murder by Amjad) in order for Amjad to marry his
sister in one scene, and later we learn that the pregnancy Amjad lied to Omar
about, keeping Nadia to himself rather than Omar was completely fabricated,
meaning that Omar gave away the woman of his dreams based on faulty information
and pride.
The movie’s problem, though, is that
the plot seems so thin. The film
works, again, as a thriller, but it’s merely a good thriller and not something
that deserves an Oscar nomination.
The acting is all fine, with the incredibly sexy Bakri bringing swagger
and charm to the lead role, but it veers into one note, and Lubany’s Nadia in
particular lacks any sort of presence.
Is the only reason that these men are fighting over her due to her
beauty, and if so, what does that say about them and their devotion to their political cause? And the ending, almost
borrowing from a Quentin Tarantino or Andrew Dominik film, seems to not get the
point of everything that came before it, instead hearkening back to a subplot.
The film is from one of the most
important Palestinian filmmakers currently working, Hany Abu-Assad, who got his
second nomination in the Foreign Language Film category with this movie (the
previous was for Paradise Now, which
won the Golden Globe but lost with AMPAS to Tsotsi),
knows how to make a movie, and I should note that I’d recommend seeing this
film. However, when compared to
what this category could bring, I continue to be mystified that Oscar seems to
want its “okay” films when there’s something so much more exciting to choose
from.
Those were my thoughts on Omar-what were yours? Do you think the movie is being
short-changed by myself? Where
does it rank amongst the nominees?
Share in the comments!
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