MIRAL – The Review

With all the different conflicts in the Middle East in the news headlines the last few months, it’s interesting that we have this film just opening that examines one of the region’s longest controversies-the Israeli/ Palestinian situation. Artist /film maker Julian Schnabel ( THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY ) has made a film of the autobiographical novel by Rula Jebreal that examines this story over several decades before centering on one young woman’s involvement. It’s a difficult story with no easy solutions as we get to walk around this troubled land with these people during the course of this thought provoking film.

MIRAL is broken into chapters, each named for a female protagonist that carries the story forward. During Christmas of 1947 we meet Hind Al- Husseini ( Hiam Abbass ) at a Christmas party thrown by Bertha Spafford ( Vanessa Redgrave ) at a Jerusalem hotel. Hind strikes up a conversation with Bertha’s visiting American nephew Eddie ( Willem Dafoe ). Months later, while on her way to work Hind encounters dozens of children, orphans of the Arab-Israeli. Hind takes them to her mother’s home to provide food and shelter. When the dozens grow to thousands, Hind opens the Dar Al-Tifel Institute to feed, shelter, clothe, and educate them. Hind is tireless in her efforts to gain funds for it’s operations and at one point encounters Eddie again while he is working for the U.S. military. The running of the school leaves no time for them to re-connect. The story shifts with it’s next chapter subject, Nadia. She leaves her home after enduring the abuse of her stepfather and eventually works as a belly dancer at a bar. Nadia then deals with her troubled past by turning to drink. After getting into a fight on a public bus, she is sent to prison. There she meets her cellmate ( and new chapter heading ) Fatima, a former nurse now serving a double life sentence for attempting to blow up an Israeli movie theatre. She tells Nadia of her involvement with the underground Palestinian groups. Nadia is introduced to Fatima’s gentle brother Jamal ( Alexander Siddig ), a gardener at Hind’s school, during a prison visit. When she is released, Nadia and Jamal marry. Unfortunately her alcoholism and promiscuity continue even after the birth of Miral ( the final chapter ). When Nadia ends her life, Jamal finds that he cannot care for Miral by himself and enrolls her at the Institute during the work week. In her teen years Hind sends her and several students out to refuge camps to educate the children. There Miral ( Freida Pinto ) and her classmates are horrified at what is happening outside the school gates and become involved in demonstrations. She and a girlfriend soon attend meetings of the underground movement. The peaceful Jamal is horrified, but cannot stop his daughter. How far will she go and what will happen if she is discovered and arrested?

MIRAL tells these brutal stories with an unflinching eye. The sight of these desperate, lonely children is heart-wrenching. Schnabel tries not to paint either side in broad strokes of good and evil. At one point teenage Miral is sent away to relatives and gets to know ( and like ) the free spirited Israeli girlfriend of a cousin. When Miral becomes romantically involved with a rebel organizer she gets to witness the group’s petty infighting that soon turns deadly. Schnabel keeps the story moving and coherent through the decades even as he succumbs to art techniques with hand held cameras, intense close-ups, and center focus/hazy framed sequences. Pinto proves she’s much more than the beautiful princess who needs to be saved in SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE. Her Miral is a complex young woman whose outrage sends her into dangerous territory. As an old Trek fan, it was a great treat to see Siddig deliver a touching nuanced performance as Jamal after enjoying his work as Dr. Bashir on TV’s “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” for some many years. the real anchor of the true story ( and film ) is Hind and Abbass shows her as a strong, compassionate woman. MIRAL is a different look at a divisive issue that tries to translate it into a very personal story. It may not change your opinions, but you’ll get a very well made perspective on an area that dominates so much of the daily news cycle.

Overall Rating : 4 stars out of 5