The Attack (2013)

"The Attack" is a real emotional roller coaster in the sense that one second you'll be filled with sadness while the next you'll be furious beyond words and then you'll be so tense you won't be feeling anything at all except for fear. Before I get started talking about this film, I will tell you that this one absolutely blew me away, but I had real trouble finding more information about it because this foreign film still doesn't have a page on Wikipedia. I implore all of you out there to seek it out, and if you can, contribute to writing the article about it. I am going to be on the lookout for a DVD/Blu-ray copy of my own so that I can do my part as well. Back to the movie. It's a brilliant, thought-provoking film that you should take the time to watch. The film is about Amin Jaafari (Ali Suliman), an Israeli Palestinian surgeon who is on top of the world. He has just received a prestigious award for his work at the hospital; he has a loving, beautiful wife and many Jewish friends. It seems like despite the odds that a Palestinian in Israel would normally be facing, everything is going perfectly. His life is shattered however when he learns of a suicide bombing in a restaurant. 19 people are dead, including his wife Sihem (Reymonde Amsellem). Worst of all, the police believe his wife is responsible for the attack that left 11 children dead and all of the evidence points towards this conclusion as well. Amin is convinced that this is a mistake. His wife was supposed to be out of the city visiting her family and if she had been up to such a sinister plot, he would have known... wouldn't he?This film is an emotional roller coaster. The subject of the film is an poignant one to begin with. The idea that someone so close to you might be responsible for such a heinous crime... right away the emotions start boiling up. Fear that it might be true. Sadness that your loved one and so many are gone in such a senseless act of terrorism. Anger that if it is true, that you could have been deceived, or anger that people would dare to insinuate such behavior from someone you trusted. With the police's conclusions, Amin's life is turned upside down, and the emotions keep rising and churning. His friends turn their backs against him, the police heckle and torment him (not in ways that are particularly wrong, but in ways that will make you frustrated as it becomes obvious that our protagonist knows nothing). As you watch the film, looking for clues as to what really happened; you'll draw your own conclusions. Myself, I became infuriated whenever I saw flashbacks of Amin and Sihem together. It felt like she had been lying to him every day for 15 years of marriage, only to access the public's trust because of his prestigious position as a top-notch surgeon. At the same time, I was hoping that everything was just a big mistake.There is also a heavy thriller element to the film. I'd divide this into two parts. The first is that You don't know how our main character is going to be in the end. Because he rejects the conclusions the police come up with, he decides to do some investigating on his own... and it brings him to some very dangerous places. I like to describe these kinds of thrillers as movies where you have to apply large amounts of deodorant before going in because they will literally make you sweat out of nervousness. I don't want to say too much because there are some devastating revelations in the film, not necessarily about Amin's wife, but about the world that Israelis and Palestinians (and by extent, the whole world) lives in. Another element that I really liked was that the film portrays the consequences of terrorist acts with startling accuracy. I've already mentioned the fact that Amin becomes mostly ostracized by the people around him but there's more to it than that. The pain, the anger, the questions that rise from the actions are all dealt with with complete frankness in the film. It gave me this whole new light on a subject that I really hadn't given too much thought. The racism that's displayed in the film is heartbreaking and yet deep down, you know that what you are seeing is just a glimpse at something that is even more extreme in real life.The brilliant thing about "The Attack" is that it's a profoundly emotional story, but there's a whole lot more to it. It's also a brilliant thriller and a film with a powerful message. The movie never really spells it out for you but by spending the 1hr and 42 minutes with this character the message becomes clear. I don't want to spoil it because it really is something you need to see to understand but it affected me profoundly and left me reconsidering a lot of my preconceived thoughts about Israel and Palestine, as well as terrorism in general. The performances are very strong, the script and story are very well done and it is likely going to be an Oscar contender come the end of the year. For the sheer effect it had on my emotions, I was easily able to overlook any flaws (and even then, there were only minor ones). For all of the moments the movie gets right and for all of the light that it shines on a very real issue, it earns itself a high recommendation from me. (Original language with subtitles on the big screen, September 5, 2013)

One of the most disappointing films we've ever seen. The audience walked out puzzled and bothered.How could you take a magnificent cast of actors, give them a wonderful script, and then screw it up so badly?!I personally think the film could be used as a recruitment film for terrorists on both sides of the conflict. The world doesn't need more of that!I do not want to include a spoiler. Suffice it to say it was a wasted evening.One note: There is a scene about a "Jenin massacre", which never happened and was so blatantly false that it was immediately repudiated in most of the world press. I guess lower standards in some parts of the world can keep a lie going eternally.

"Who knows the secrets of the human heart?" The Crying Game.Three tales comprise this simple, beautiful, and harrowing drama of a Palestinian doctor, Ali Suliman (Amin Jaafari), working in Tel Aviv and receiving the equivalent of the Israeli "medical Oscar." What a fine metaphor, you say, of hope for peace between these warring peoples! Yes, but why is his wife, Siham (Reymond Amsalem), not there to share in his finest professional moment? The Attack is first of all about a terrorist act, for she is preparing to become a Palestinian martyr at the expense of 17 Tel Aviv civilians' lives and numerous maimed women and children. The reality of this tale is that such attacks are common but not so easily explained except that two populations hate each other enough to commit mayhem the reason for which no one can really understand beyond the obvious territoriality.Second, it's an attack on the brilliant doctor's understanding of human nature as he assesses how he knew nothing for their 15 married years about what would lead her to become a suicide bomber. In thematic terms, the fathomless mystery lives on about how well we know those closest to us (see opening quote) and by extension, how well the Israelis and Palestinians know each other.Third, The Attack is about understanding the wall between Israel and Palestine that makes collaboration such as in the opening medical award scene a fantasy for two peoples in a terrorist state of mind. Slowly the film allows the hatred and suspicion to seep into each frame with a subtlety so graceful as almost to be unseen and unfelt. Never does the film descend into melodrama or hysteria.The Attack is an understated masterpiece focusing on the emerging awareness of a doctor that the violence he tends to in the hospital is closer at home, but he learns too late. That is probably the most effective part of Lebanese writer/director Ziad Doueiri's vision: We can't understand terror in part because it hides itself until it explodes on the scene.Although the Arab League asked for a boycott of the film because the director violated a Lebanese policy forbidding work by its citizens in Israel, the league may have missed the film's somewhat benign treatment of Siham and her cause. Truth be told, though, neither Israel nor Palestine is the bad team in this film. Rather, the bad is the ignorance that fosters violence in the name of liberty. Such a lack of awareness assures there will always be attacks.The only hope I found is in Screen Comment's final assessment of the film itself as an emblem of cooperation: "Witness the coming together of a crew as talented, as diverse and as honest as that of 'The Attack,' bringing us this unflinching testimony of a situation to which the world has unfortunately become inured but which will have to find a solution some day."

A very beautiful, sensitive and poignant movie I watched today. I already knew the topic, and that is the reason why I got to it. I don't know much about Israeli or Palestinian movie industry...And I guess there are many films like this one. The story has been told above, in the plot line. A very simple but unusual tale. The search of the widower about the death of his wife, suspected to have been a kamikaze human bomb in Tel Aviv, killing a bunch of innocent folks. You can't stay cold in front of this poor man searching, seeking for the truth and then facing it, with all the pain that means for him. The final moments, in the last sequence, is absolutely terrific. A film that you have to watch only if you are in the mood for it. Yes, you have to be prepared. Somewhere a depressing story, but so beautiful in the same time.