Miral is an indie historical drama that focuses primarily on the perspective of the Palestinian people and their plight after Israel got its statehood post WW2. Miral is the main character of this film, though it’s not apparent at first because the film wisely decides to fill us in on what is going on with this whole Israel/Palestinian conflict dealio. She is sent to an orphanage known for its neutrality, safety, and education at the age of 5 and lives her life as a naive young student all the way through her teens until she is exposed to the grim realities facing the Palestinian refugees. Jailings, condemnation, lies, deceit, untruths, whippings, holding childrens at gunpoint… all the things that make anyone want to jump in and bash some heads. With a new sense of purpose, Miral decides to get involved with the P.L.O. and its mission to make Palestine a country. Which as we all know ended peacefully without issue.
Miral is a good film. It’s not a great film; it’s not a super-bad film; it’s a good film. I think its primary motive is to give the Palestinians a voice in addition to showing audiences a different perspective of a conflict they’ve been vicariously living for years. There are no huge character developments or big turns or swindles or lame-as-fuck love stories or any of that other crap. The film invites us to live alongside Miral as she grows up in a world ravaged by hubris and conflict; she helps us to better understand why things are the way they are over there. Normally, a plot without a plot is a bad sign for a movie. But here, it was alright; I was actually pretty engaged trying to understand and get behind these people and could see myself legitimately hoping for their success. Seriously, what’s wrong with people not getting along and shit? Is this the way things are always going to be?
Probably.
ThomFiles 