Movies entertain, educate

KATHARINE HAMER EDITOR

When it was first announced that Richard Gere would play a kabbalah scholar in the movie adaptation of Myla Goldberg's best-selling novel Bee Season, the news was met with much derision in the Jewish press.

Now that the movie has been released, it's clear that this was more than mere grumbling at the paradigm of non-Jewish actors cast in "Jewish" roles (witness Jeff Daniels playing a Jewish father in the recent film The Squid and the Whale). Gere is simply not compelling or believable in the role of Jewish patriarch Saul Naumann. Thankfully, he doesn't have to speak much Hebrew.

There have been a number of changes made in the screenplay, written by Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal – including the birth religion of the mother in the movie, Miriam Naumann. Presumably, the movie-Miriam was made into a French Catholic convert to allow for the casting of Juliette Binoche: a talented actress. Not American. Not Jewish.

For those who have read Goldberg's novel, these changes may be confusing. The structure of the screenplay is also rather different, beginning without an explanation of why it's so significant that young Eliza Naumann (Flora Cross) has won her district spelling bee – or that her studious brother Aaron (Max Minghella) was the family's pride and joy at Shabbat services.

That said, Bee Season certainly offers a visual feast. Eliza's lexicographical skill stems from her ability to actually see the words she is spelling. With the magic of special effects, this means we get to witness clouds of dandelion floating around Eliza's head as she spells the word and a dove wearing an origami coat.

Among the Judaic traditions underlined in the movie are the notion of light as a creationary force. Kaleidoscopes, sunsets and illuminated road signs help mark the family's path. So does fractured glass, which Miriam tries to use in a misguided attempt at effecting tikkun olam.

Likewise, Saul schools his daughter in kabbalistic mysticism, telling her that letters have meaning far greater than their shapes and that, through them, she may even draw a direct connection to God. "It's not what they look like," he tells her, "it's what they feel like" – also a nod to the concept of kavanah, the inner intent.

Finally, in the relationship between Aaron and Eliza, there is a reference to Abraham and Isaac, and the biblical stories of what happens when one child is favored over another. Yet, in the end, it is the children who not only protect each other, but keep this family together – and Minghella and Cross both deftly inhabit the uncertain character of youth.

Ultimately, this is a movie about trying to heal the spirit, when words may not carry enough meaning on their own.

A look at terrorism

By now, we are all too used to news coverage of suicide bombs in Israel. Paradise Now is an attempt by filmmaker Hany Abu-Assad to understand the suicide bomber's mentality.

Shot in Nablus, Nazareth and Tel-Aviv, the film focuses on best friends Said (Kais Nashef) and Khaled (Ali Suliman), both employees of a run-down auto repair shop who are recruited for a suicide mission by a Palestinian organization. Paradise Now explores the rationale behind the friends' acceptance of the mission – and the moral uncertainty each faces as their assignment looms.

Raised in a refugee camp, the young men believe they have little to live for and that Israel's "occupation" of their land can only be avenged by violent means. "A life without dignity is worthless," Said announces. "Our bodies are all we have left to fight with."

This view is moderated by the frustrated pacifism of Suha (Belgian actress Lubna Azabal), the beautiful young woman, educated in Europe, whose father was a martyr and who catches Said's attention. When she learns that he was among a crowd who burned down the town cinema 10 years before, she demands, "What did the cinema do to you?" When Said asks, "Aren't you proud of your father?" Suha retorts, "I'd rather he was alive than be proud of him." Although the movie opens with a scene of Suha being humiliated by a soldier at a checkpoint, it is she who interrupts the friends' mission and begs them to rethink their actions.

According to Abu-Assad, undertaking this film involved a complex juggling act.

"To get into the area, you have to get friendly with the Israeli army," he wrote in the movie's production notes. "To survive inside the area, you have to work with the Palestinians" – many of whom were suspicious of such a large crew. During shooting, the film's location manager was kidnapped and the crew was subjected on a daily basis to gunshots, rocket attacks and curfews.

Though it contains some moments of genuine humor, Paradise Now is a sobering inside view of the intifada, right down to the preparations made for an attack (making a martyr's video, changing a bomber's appearance so he doesn't trigger alarms on the streets of Israel and so on).

The Palestinian/Dutch/German/French co-production won an Amnesty International award this year. Whatever you may think of its politics or apparent sympathies, it's certainly thought-provoking.

Bee Season and Paradise Now open on Nov. 18.

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