Review: ‘Lemon Tree’

‘Lemon Tree’ (Itz Limon) is a powerful drama based on the true story of a Palestinian widow who fights the Israeli military over the destruction of her beloved 50-year old grove of lemon trees she inherited from her late father. Salma Zidane (Hiam Abbass) is a middle-aged woman who lives alone and barely makes a living off her lemons, assisted in caring for the grove only by one elderly man whose done so for the last 40 years.

Salma keeps mostly to herself, minds her own business and lives a simple life in her house next to the old grove of lemons that she tends. Her quiet solitary life is suddenly thrown into chaos when the Israeli Minister of Defense Navon and his wife move into a large house just across the border from Salma’s grove, separated only by a chain-link fence.

The Israeli Secret Service determines that the grove of lemon trees present a security threat to Navon and the state by providing cover for terrorists who may want to attack the Defense Minister’s home. Salma receives a letter from the Israeli government stating that her grove of lemon trees are to be uprooted and that she would be eligible for compensation.

Aside from the obvious fact that this decision had been made without Salma’s consent or even involvement, other complications present themselves, making this a troubling ordeal for Salma. Accepting the compensation offered by the Israeli government would go against the wishing of the Palestinian’s senior men and place a shame upon her.

Ultimately, this problem would be eliminated by the Israeli withdrawal of their offer to compensate due to a new act passed stating that compensation cannot be offered for property seized or destroyed as a means to ensure state security from terrorism. This is merely one example of the cultural and political challenge that Salma battles as she decides to take her case to court and on through the legal system up to the Supreme Court.

Hiam Abbass gives a wonderful performance, conveying the many layers of emotion of the character with great depth, mostly through her eyes. Salma struggles with being pulled between doing what she feels is right and doing what is expected of her by the Israeli’s and her fellow cynical Palestinians. Her son lives overseas in America, and still he sides with having Salma let it go and move to America with him, but her emotional connection to the grove is too strong to simply let it be destroyed.

Two very important relationships develop in ‘Lemon Tree’ that enrich this story even further. Salma enlists the services of Palestinian attorney Ziad Daud to fight the order for the uprooting of her lemon trees. Daud is about the age of Salma’s son Nasser, but he quickly becomes smitten with Salma, attracted to her mature beauty and her courageousness, but Salma must tread lightly as not to offend the Palestinian elders by disgracing her late husband’s honor and memory.

The other significant relationship is between Salma and the Israeli Defense Minister’s wife Mira, who opposes the destruction of Salma’s lemon trees, but is unable to convince her husband to revoke the order. She becomes a friend of Salma and her cause, but at a necessary distance due to the obvious cultural and political situation that separates them. Mira empathizes with Salma and takes on a heavy guilt for the ultimate outcome of Salma’s legal and personal struggle.

‘Lemon Tree’ is beautiful movie to watch and the language is a wonderful treat to listen to while reading the subtitles. The story presents a very real problem in the middle east without becoming too heavy-handed in preaching a one-sided arguments. While ‘Lemon Tree’ is clearly a film presenting the struggles of the Palestinian people, it actually presents faults on both sides of the debate. At 106 minutes in length, the film is just right and ends on a bittersweet note that is both a political progressive victory of Palestine and an unfortunate, heart-breaking end for Salma that becomes a new beginning.

‘Lemon Tree’ opens June 5 in Saint Louis at the Plaza Frontenac Cinema.