Miral (2011)

Just what I expected

Don't listen to the negative reviews

best movie i've ever seen.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

This is a Must See film. Julian Schnabel's 'Miral' is a moving and well structured film. Following the general structure of Rula Jebreal's book of the same title, we follow a logical journey through a number of lives and events that focus on the founding of the Dar El Tiffel orphanage by the wonderful Hind Husseini, and her mentoring of Miral, the daughter of a local Imam whose wife committed suicide. Set within the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, both the novel and film offer no solutions, except a belief on both sides that peace can be obtained.The film, based on Jebreal's own childhood and youth, sing the praises of education as the tool to escape ignorance and lack of opportunity. The orphanage becomes an escape from the harsh realities of the conflict, and offers a haven for the girls it fosters and teaches. The film isn't so much about the two sided conflict as being a story about women and education. Hind Husseini gained much respect in her lifetime, receiving awards, and giving public addresses about education for women.The Education, Education, Education message is one that has become so important throughout all middle eastern countries, very much resonating with the advocacy work of people like Queen Rania of Jordan, Sheikha Mosa of Qatar and the education initiatives in the UAE. Regional conflict can only be quelled when a nation's people are well educated and informed, and this came through in the words of Hind.This film is important and highly recommended.

Can a film be done well in almost all departments, but still be disliked? In short: yes. The beautiful Freida Pinto, of Slumdog Millionaire fame, plays Miral, who gets involved in the campaign for a free Israel in the late 80's. According to the text at the end, she's grown up to be a top international journalist. Good for her. What I do question though, is whether her story was worth committing to celluloid. On this evidence, I would say not.Pinto doesn't even appear until halfway through... we have to wade through a lot of back story involving miscellaneous characters before we meet our heroine, all grown up. Described as a 'terrorist' on the movie poster, this is a bit misleading... she just hands out some leaflets, holds onto some sensitive books for her rebel boyfriend. Her one brush with the law is quickly dealt with, and the rest of the time she has inconsequential chats with her friends and family. Snore.When the ending arrived, I couldn't believe it. I'd invested 90+ minutes for... THAT? In the past, I've criticised Hollywood biopics for sometimes play and fast with the truth. If giving us a straight account of someone's life ends up like this, perhaps my mind has been completely changed on the subject... 5/10

I did not know what the movie was about so when it started my first reaction was: "Oh no! not another movie on Jewish suffering!" I was pleasantly surprised to discover that this time the movie was about the Palestinian plight. Kudos to that I say, nevertheless I found the story confusing. I am a fan of Julian Schnabel's work as director, but I expected more after The Bell-jar and the Butterfly which in my book was a masterpiece. Miral (not an apt title for the subject matter) takes its time before getting to the main story and protagonist, telling first the tale of 3 other women: Her mother Nadia; Fatima the terrorist; and Hind the school master and surrogate mother to all orphans. Miral's arrival on the scene is almost an afterthought, hinted at by Nadia's vomit attack upon arriving in jail -if she is sickened by fear or by baby is not clear until much later on.I wished the director let the people speak in Arabic and add subtitles -which were used only in the beginning- it would have made for a less Anglo-centric flavored film and the written text would have allowed the audience to catch important dialog that was otherwise drowned by the soundtrack. What Fatima says to the man who later becomes Nadia's husband, for example, would have explained later events. Same for what was exchanged between Miral and the Intifada member at the funeral, important words muffled in music. Because of this and the confusing ways of past and present scenes mixing without a clear way to distinguish between them, the storyline of the movie was unclear, and so was its perception similar to walking in the dark, intuiting the outline of things but not getting the full picture. All actors were good but Hiam Abass who played Hind stood out. Freida Pinto does not look authentic, I read she is of Indian heritage, but her beauty made the distressing story more bearable, if distracting. Aside from this, it was refreshing to see a movie on this subject matter, produced and directed by major names in the movie industry. To see the Israeli seen as "bad guys" was almost shocking, what with the Jewish propaganda we get out of Hollywood all the time. The world needs to see Palestinian heroes, if nothing else to balance the way Arabs in general are portrayed in the movies. A movie worth seeing if NOT the ultimate picture on the subject.

Without a doubt, the Israel-Palestine conflict has been one of the most controversial issues of the past few decades, and one on which very few movies are willing to focus. That makes Julian Schnabel's "Miral" all the more important.The movie is based on Palestinian author Rula Jebreal's autobiography, focusing half on her childhood and half on the Dar al-Tifl Institute founded in the wake of the Deir Yassin Massacre. The institute's founder Hind Husseini (Hiam Abbass) manages to keep the institute and its students safe from events outside. Miral (Freida Pinto) gets sent to Dar al-Tifl at the age of seven. Her life is mostly easy until the intifada, when Israel tightens security, making life even more difficult for the Palestinians. Miral's friend Hani (Omar Metwally) insists on taking militant action against the occupying forces, while Hind Husseini warns Miral not to do anything that endangers her future. In short, Miral has practically no good choices.Aside from bringing up the Israel-Palestine conflict, part of what I like about "Miral" is that it shows the day-to-day lives of the Palestinians. The reminds us that these people about whom we usually hear in the context of war -- or simply get called terrorists -- are human beings. If the movie has any downside, it's that the jumping back and forth between Miral herself and Dar al-Tifl is a bit confusing at times, but overall I strongly recommend this movie.Also starring Alexander Siddig, Makram Khoury, Willem Dafoe and Vanessa Redgrave (who of course mentioned Palestine while accepting her Oscar for "Julia").