PRIVATE
Directed by: Saverio Costanzo.
Produced by: Mario Gianani.
Written by: Saverio Costanzo, Sayed Qashua, Camilla Costanzo & Alessio Cremonini.
Director of Photography: Luigi Martinucci.
Edited by: Francesca Calvelli.
Music by: Alter Ego.
Released by: Typecast Releasing.
Language: Arabic, English & Hebrew with English subtitles.
Country of Origin: Italy. 90 min. Not Rated.
With: Mohammad Bakri, Areen Omari, Hend Ayoub, Lior Miller, Tomer Russo & Marco Alsaying.

Shot entirely with a handheld digital camera in Calabria, Italy, Private manages to deliver an original take on Israeli-Palestinian tensions. Based on a true story, of which Saverio Costanzo previously made a documentary, a Palestinian family’s home is occupied by Israeli soldiers. The father (Mohammad Bakri) fights back with resistance rather than gunfire. Though the rest of his family is entirely opposed to remaining in the occupied house - which the soldiers have nonchalantly destroyed upon their violent entry - the father refuses to back down, and soon recruits his wife and children to his cause. Mariam (Hend Ayoub), the highly obstinate and strong-willed daughter who wears her white veil diligently, disobeys her father’s orders not to sneak up to the top floor where the soldiers are stationed.

Though the unsteady camera is initially slightly disarming, it provides a feeling of immediacy and soon becomes central in the viewer’s ability to empathize and identify with the protagonists. Surprisingly (or not) the actors deliver an extremely real and intense portrayal of the family, despite the fact that none of the them had any previous acting experience. As the mother, Areen Omari, with her perpetually disheveled black hair and dark-circled eyes, is herself Palestinian; she delivers a genuinely moving performance of a helpless mother slowly dying under the fear that her family might be killed.

Because of the neutral location in which the film was shot, and the fact that the Israeli soldiers are very much humanized despite the violence with which they threaten the Arab family, Private remains, to an extent, neutral. It does not necessarily fault either side, but illustrates how neither the Palestinians nor the Israelis truly act on their own accord. The soldiers are depicted as not wanting to be in the home, and feeling regretful of their actions. Similarly, teenager Jamal (Marco Alsaying) has dreams of becoming a suicide bomber or a freedom fighter, influenced by the propaganda he sees everyday on TV and hears at school.

The film also scrutinizes the strong sense of patriarchy so prevalent in Arab culture. Throughout, the father refuses to hear his wife’s pleas to flee or his daughter’s desires to fight back with arms. What Mohammad says goes, just as what the soldiers say goes. Thus, the women in the family are doubly oppressed, and this is most notably seen in Areen Omari’s portrayal. "To be or not to be," that is the question Mohammad first poses to his wife and daughter at the onset of the movie, for to leave their home as refugees would be to die altogether. Throughout, Private leaves the viewer constantly on edge, on the verge of an emotional breakdown; in short, a member of this hardship-stricken family whose only hope of survival is faith, love, and a strong desire "to be." Parisa Vaziri
November 12, 2005