The Green Prince (2014)

The Green Prince (2014) is an Israeli film written and directed by Nadav Schirman. It's a documentary that features Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of a Hamas leader, and Gonen Ben Yitzhak, who was an agent with Shin Bet, the Israeli secret service.Intelligence agents will use any means at their disposal to get an opponent to cross the line and turn against his or her own people. That's the situation portrayed in this documentary. A Shin Bet agent was able to convince a young Palestinian to work for Shin Bet against his Palestinian friends and family.The young man--Mosab Hassan Yousef--tells us how, when he was in prison, Hamas leaders tortured their own people with unimaginable cruelty. This experience was the turning point. It was after this that he became an informant for the Israelis. We who are watching the film can see that there's more to this story than Mosab tell us. However, it's possible that he himself doesn't see the big picture.Mosab clearly bonded with his handler, Gonen Ben Yitzhak. Still, it's obvious that the bonding worked in both directions. Gonen grew to respect--and possibly love--Mosab. Ultimately, their bond is put to the test.This is a grim, difficult film about a grim, difficult situation. However, the topic is so important, and the psychological complexities are so profound, that it's worth accepting the difficulty and seeing the movie. We saw it at the Rochester JCC Hart Theatre, as part of the outstanding Rochester International Jewish Film Festival. It will work just as well on a small screen.

80% of the scenes in this movie are just straight on facial shots of two people telling a story. That is not interesting or creative film making. The rest looks like stock news footage. No interviews with other people, the affected families, people on the street - nothing. A film maker should bring a story to life, give it context, and make it exciting to watch. Having a camera on someone's face and getting them to talk for 90 minutes is not film making. If this was produced by a film student, I would give them an F. Too bad. It's an interesting idea, but told in the most dull, boring way imaginable. This is definitely one of the worst films I have seen in the last 5 years. It is so bad, it is almost unbelievable.

This is the story of the son of an influential Hamas zealot, turned into an Israeli informant from the age of 17, and his Israeli handler, a Shin Beth agent. Both are surrounded by brutality -- Hamas's ruthless violence, and Shin Beth's likewise ruthless violence -- the informant struggling with conflicts of loyalty and shame, but the handler conflicted too, for a genuine personal bond of trust, affection and loyalty had also emerged between the two of them. Despite the fact that the portrayal is scripted, it has the ring of sincerity and it gives a non-partisan sense of the tragic vendetta in which they are both engulfed.

This was the opening film at the 34th San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, and what a good choice it was! It is a documentary, of which there were quite a few in this edition of the festival, however, this was not a regular documentary - it left a very strong impact.Before the film the Director, Nadav Schirman, came on stage and explained that this is a film about two people who have learnt to trust each other. Of course it is much more than that - it is an eye opener! But this is for each of us to reflect upon.From the first shot of Mosab on screen looking straight at the audience with his piercing, expressive eyes I was mesmerized. After the film, the two main personalities came on stage: Mosab Hassan Yousef, the author of the book "Son of Hamas" on which this film was based, and Gonen Ben Yitzhak, his spy handler. The film moved back and forth in time, recounting the events of a ten-year period, since Mosab was seventeen. A time in which he was constantly in danger or in prison. After the film screening, Mosab Hassan Yousef explained that he was striving to avoid unnecessary killings saying: "We are all children of the Devine".