Rana's Wedding (2003)

Fresh and Exciting

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

The only thing about this movie that is worthy of a recommendation are the nice location shots. I've never been to Israel or the Palestinian territories, so it was nice to see a modern view of this always-in-the-news region. But, story-wise, this film is a mediocre effort. The pace is agonizingly slow and anti-climactic as the heroine that we're supposed to care about locates her true love halfway through the movie and then we're forced to follow this uninteresting couple as they try to round up the family and have a quick wedding ceremony. There is a movie here. It's a young girl's journey to check out each and every one of the potential (and father-approved) suitors on the list. One charming moment in the film was when the girl and her boyfriend peek into the offices of a young lawyer who's on the list. She's never seen him before so she's naturally curious to check him out as she tells her boyfriend. How much more interesting it would have been to have the girl meet all her potential suitors, compare them to her rather mundane actor-boyfriend, and make a grown-up decision. That would have been a real journey worth filming.

This movie starts out a bit artsy, which I found off-putting, but it improved quickly. I found the pace of the movie slightly tedious, but this is necessary to show what Palestinian life is like (waiting hours at check-points to go anywhere is not unusual). Some parts of the movie were slightly confusing for a non-Palestinian audience to follow what was going on. The lead actress who plays Rana was very good. It is not a story about the Israeli occupation, it is a story about Rana, but it does show a lot of what it is like in Israeli occupied Palestine. If you don't mind that it isn't Hollywood, I would recommend this movie purely for the interesting setting.

I just saw this, and I gave it a 9.The filming and pace were extremely well done. The story isn't so much suspenseful as stressful, which is a reflection of what the characters are going through. You're unsure you'll be allowed in, you're stuck in line, you can't get in touch, you're being watched, and you have a wedding to attend, a life to live. Palestinians have their friends, and their hopes, and that's it, and this film conveys that very well.The acting is good, everyone is on the same level, the characters are good under the scrutiny of a camera which takes long stares. The story is not contrived like many may-not-happen wedding films, it continues to move along. There is some humor, but it's the kind of humor you see in everyday life, it's not a comedy.It's filmed on location Jerusalem and Ramallah, and we see all the elements of everyday life that come over to the US on the news: somber funerals, stones against assault rifles, houses being demolished, cops with itchy trigger fingers, endless lines at military checkpoints, a little poverty, lots of filth, but in a nicely done way, the film isn't very heavy handed about it, it shows it there and moves on, not focusing on the misery, and the atmosphere comes through the characters and their emotions. Rana is upset, even with her fiancee, and you see why someone can be so upset on what she hopes to be the happiest day of her life.

A fair depiction of the hardships under occupation, and the customs of the middle class Muslim Palestinians in Jerusalem. Perhaps because it was filmed in Jerusalem streets under such adversity, this film is a bit amateurish with mismatched music substituting for compelling acting.