By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.75
Director: Julian Schnabel
Starring: Alexander Siddig | Freida Pinto | Hiam Abbass | Vanessa Redgrave | Willem Defoe
Country: france, india, israel, italy
Year: 2011
Running time: 112
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1366409/
Michael says: “Julian Schnabel, director of the acclaimed THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY, tackles the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in this ambitious historical tale told from the point-of-view of an idealistic, but naive young Arab woman named Miral. In 1948, Hind Husseini (Hiam Abbass) comes across 55 orphans abandoned in the street after their families have been killed or scattered during the initial conflict between the Arabs and Israelis. She takes them all in and six months later their number has swelled to nearly 2000. With her connections and visions of peace and hope for the future, Hind creates the Dar Al-Tifel Institute where orphaned Palestinian girls are educated.
“When Miral’s mother dies, her father send the young girl to the Institute, for her own safety and education. There is grows to young adulthood sheltered from the harsh realities going on around her. When she is sent out to teach young refugees, the conflict touches her directly and her idealism leads her to to a political activist and her actions jeopardize both the school, and her own and her father’s safety. Miral finds herself at a crossroads, torn between the fight for the future of her people and Mama Hind’s belief that education is the road to peace.
“Schnabel tackles the ongoing conflict, still very much a part of our world today, with thoughtfulness and a fairly even-handed eye. He intersperses his film with stock footage of conflicts in Jerusalem and the West Bank. His use of color tinting is effective, and his visuals are powerful. Hiam Abbass is strong as always, as the woman whose fight for her people was immersed in peace and education. Alexander Siddig (CAIRO TIME) does a nice job as Miral’s father, and long time ally of Hind’s. Freida Pinto does a fine job as the idealistic Miral. The film also features cameos by Willem Dafoe and Vanessa Redgrave. Ultimately, while MIRAL is effective, and tells a powerful story, it’s a fairly standard historical tale that doesn’t take a whole lot of chances. 3 1/2 cats”
Bruce says: “Had I seen this film without knowing the director I would possibly have guessed it was a first- time, unknown director – except for the giveaway clue: the cast. It is highly unlikely that Hiam Abbass, Alexander Siddig, Vanessa Redgrave and Willem Dafoe would all appear in a risky venture. One maybe, but not all four of them. MIRAL reveals none of the directorial expertise and vision contained in Schnabel’s earlier films – BEFORE NIGHT FALLS, BASQUIAT, THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY or the Lou Reed concert film BERLIN. MIRAL suffers from poor storytelling (confusion of character, time and place are among its problems), bad sound editing, pedestrian cinematography (for no discernable reason, many scenes begin with a rolling shot of the sky; others end there), awkwardly implanted archival footage, and bad film editing.
“The film tells the story of Miral, a Palestinian orphan girl who survives insurmountable odds culminates with her leaving for a journalistic career in Italy. Although Miral was born in 1973, the film begins in 1947 with Hind Husseini (Hiam Abbass) rescuing orphan children from the very first of the endless skirmishes and wars between Israel and the Palestinians. She begins feeding and sheltering a handful of children; soon her domain includes hundreds of orphaned children and a huge complex designed to educate and prepare them for adulthood. The alternative sadly would be a refugee camp where the children would forage and, if luck prevailed, survive. Hind is the common thread as the film rambles through several individual stories covering many decades. Also prominent throughout is Jamal, a close friend and might-have-been lover of Hind, who adopts and raises Miral.
“The four well-known leads shine as they tend to do in almost every film they grace; they sustain the film. As the title character, Freida Pinto lacks the requisite depth and sparkle for the role. The balance of the cast varies from ordinary to woefully lacking. Kudos go to the make-up crew who age Hiam Abbass and Alexander Siddig slowly and gracefully, adding reality to events that seem contrived although they are based on historic fact.
“Other films about Palestinians such as LAILA’S BIRTHDAY, a film shot in Ramallah, create a much better sense of place. There are no excuses for MIRAL’s artistic failure. Here’s hoping Schnabel returns to his former level of competence. 2 cats”