Divine Intervention (2002)

Very Cool!!!

Sadly Over-hyped

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Elia Suleiman directed and plays a major role in what many call a comedy about life in Nazareth at the time the film was made. It may be of greater interest now than when released because of current events.I watched the director's commentary after watching the movie on DVD. It seems that the first half of the movie is about life in occupied Nazareth from the view of the Arabs who live there. Nazareth is a large city in northern Israel which Wikipedia says is the Arab capital; Arab residents are by far the largest segment of the population.This half of the movie shows the boiling anger against the occupation being taken out on each other - friendly waves as you pass, muttered curses under your breath. The movie gets off to a slow start, but I soon began to chuckle, then laugh aloud at the goings on. I'm sure if you live there, you know much more about what's going on in the movie than I do as an American living in another world.At some point in the movie, the unnamed character played by Suleiman begins meeting a woman in a parking lot near an Israeli checkpoint. The scenes are remarkable for both their romanticism and their stoic heartbreak as they caress each other's hands and watch the Israeli soldiers abuse the Arabs passing through the check point.Viewers should be aware that there are several scenes which are fantasy: Suleiman's character throws a persimmon pit out the window onto an Israeli army tank and blows the tank to smithereens; a woman walks by the Israeli checkpoint, and the elevated guard tower collapses. The woman becomes a ninja fighter and kills trained plainclothes soldiers or police (I don't know which) by throwing rocks, darts, and other objects at them as they shoot at her repeatedly, reload, and shoot again. At one point, she levitates and looks down on them from the air in the position of a crucified person with a crown of bullets circling her head. The symbolism is pretty heavy at times."Divine Intervention" is both funny and poignant. It is entirely from the viewpoint of the Arabs, but it skewers both sides without being propagandistic and heavy handed.

While during the film I was often a little baffled at the point of the montage, or wondering how it was all going to fit together at the end, by the time we got to the end I was absolutely amazed at this film.It occurred to me that perhaps this is not a film about the Palestine/Israel conflict, but rather a concept film that happens to be set in the Palestine/Israel conflict. But then I realized that saying that isn't giving the point of the film enough credit, either.I wonder if perhaps one needs to have seen the region first-hand in order to to truly understand this film- how Palestinians are forced to live, and make the best life for themselves as they can, what really goes on at checkpoints, how some Palestinians collaborate with Israeli authorities (if you didn't understand that the house that got hit with a Molotov cocktail and then sprayed with gunfire was the house of a collaborator, then perhaps that explains why you didn't understand the movie), the way the Israeli authorities use any means of control and how Palestinians resist that however they can (the scene where they fix the road, only to have the old man who was taken for questioning return to destroy the road).Besides that, however, I think this film is a feat of cinematography. The camera angles themselves are unique and brilliant, the sparse use of dialogue and the small montages full of symbolism and heavy with truisms give this film a beautiful and haunting feel. It will stay with me for a long, long time. The scene at the very end with the pressure cooker, and Amu saying "Turn it off, that's enough!" is how every Palestinian feels about living under Israeli occupation. Elia Suleiman gives us a rare chance to see that for ourselves- make sure you take it.

Brilliant politics mixed mixed with very black, subtle comedy make up this very slightly surreal and funny movie about life and love in Israel.However, I wouldn't recommend this film for everybody, don't watch it if you're looking for an easy movie, it takes a lot of mental energy to really understand this movie, however if you're in the movie for an intellectual treat, its quite fun.This movie has the subtle humor and lack of dialogue of a tati movie with the politics and vignette fashion of a Bunuel.Overall, it's good, yet many of the political references are extremely obscure and the metaphors aren't always clear.

Whoever thought it was boring missed an important point: The movie itself (the rhythm, the structure, "no point") is a metaphor for the lives of those people. If it were any more lively or "entertaining" it would have been completely inconsistent.It is not just the (very funny) jokes that make the movie interesting, but the attitude it emanates. The individual scenes (which are ALL linked to others by the way) express the feeling of indifference developed by the characters after years of living in a land torn by conflict. But they can't just stop living. On one hand, the immensely amusing daily situations prove that they're alive. But on the other hand, everyone in the movie seems to have grown immune to humour. This movie not only unites strong elements, like hidden symbols, attractively filmed shots, great music, and occasional bursts of humour and action. It also paints a subtle portrait of characters that may or may not reflect reality. It conveys a certain mood with remarkable coherence. The state of mind of people who are living surreal lives but can't take it any more. When will the boiler explode? How long can this go on?Divine intervention contains poignant scenes of humiliation, defiance, love, insanity, and also scenes of simple mundane living. All that with as little words as possible. I saw it for the first time at a European film festival in Beirut two years ago. I've seen it three times since, and every time I laugh less, but my admiration grows a little for this rich movie.