westsideschl A study in tolerance and values as they clash - tradition vs. contemporary; old vs. new; parents vs. older children; male dominance vs. female independence. We see good/bad on both sides - rape, drugs (legal & illegal), abuse, lack of understanding. Families, men & women trying to find love & answers. Centered about a Palestinian community in Israeli Tel Aviv.

dromasca For once the English translation of the Hebrew title of this film was quite inspired. In Hebrew it was screened as 'lo po, lo sham' (not here, not there) and 'In Between' reflects even better the state of mind but also the social status of the three heroins of this interesting film. It also is quite a rare (but not unique) production in the local film market, a film about the Palestinian Arabs in Israel, spoken almost entirely in Arab, dealing with the tensions and problems in the society and communities of the Arabs living in Israel. I need to mention also that the film was produced by Shlomi Elkabetz and is dedicated to the memory of his late wife Ronit Elkabetz, a wonderful actress and film-maker who passed away a year ago, and supported financially by several Israeli film funds and TV stations.The three Arab young women in the center of the film live in the cosmopolitan city of Tel Aviv, a city which is liberal and permissive by any criteria. In Israel it is sometimes called 'The Bubble' because of the differences in style of life from the rest of the country – the gape between living in Tel Aviv and the rest of Israel is as large as the gape between living in Manhattan and the rest of the US, or Paris and the rest of France. These differences are even more accentuated for people coming from the Arab sectors society (which are much more traditional than the Jewish ones) and even sharper for women. Leila (Mouna Hawa), Salma (Sana Jammelieh), and Nour (Shaden Kanboura) have each a different life story, try to cope differently with the social, professional, genre, and emotional problems, but at the end will share the same fate of being pushed aside and discriminated for several reasons – belonging to the Arab minority, being women, trying to adopt a style of life and exercise professions, making their own choices in the personal lives.Such stories cannot have a happy end, and the final scene is almost a freeze-up on desperation, although we know that their fight continues. I liked the solidarity of the three women, the direct, almost rough way their stories are told, the way the three actress enter or better say live in their roles. I liked less the schematic approach of presenting the other characters, bad (mostly) or good. Script author and director Maysaloun Hamoud seems to have borrowed many of the stereotypes of the Israeli films, and her approach in describing the Arab families as super-conservative and the Big City as a living hell populated with smoking, drinking, and drugs misses many other aspects of these complex worlds and situations even if it can be statistically close to reality. In Between could have been a much better movie in my opinion if these over-simplifications were avoided.

Nozz I don't know what "Bar Bahr" means in Arabic, but I liked the English title-- "In Between"-- less than the Hebrew, which is "Neither Here Nor There." The movie is about how its three heroines suffer from belonging neither to traditional Arab society nor to secular Westernized society. Any base that they may seem to have established for themselves "in between" seems to crumble beneath their feet.Despite the serious predicament, though, the movie is also very much about sisters doing it for themselves. There's an automatic solidarity whereby women-- at least young women of similar ages-- are all automatically soulmates; and men, it almost goes without saying, are swine. (Well, the gay guy is of course okay and a bit amusing.) Despite those stereotypes, the movie holds interest by virtue of believable acting and believable situations. My wife says it's one of the best we've seen in recent years, and she had the chance to appreciate it a little better than I did not only because she's a woman but also because she understands Arabic somewhat. For those who don't understand Arabic, though, there's still the added benefit of a look into another culture. The Israeli press was particularly impressed that not only traditional Arabic life is glimpsed, but also the small, rarely-explored community of young Arabs in Tel Aviv. (Is it possible that they all really smoke that much?) We see a succession of situations that by no means always involve much action or even much tension, although a couple of crises do come up. Mostly the appeal of the movie is in allowing us to feel like a fly on the wall among interesting people facing interesting day-to-day challenges.

Nikola Maric (maricn-600-513834) Got into a cinema not expecting much, but I was rewarded with refreshing story I think many can correlate in some way, disregarding the context of where the story is taking part.It shows us three girls and their current life stories, focuses on contrast between traditional and religious on one side, and liberal on other. We follow them through Tel Aviv's nightlife where they enjoy being free, escaping their daily lives, but we also see them in front of their religious and conservative families, partners and friends. It realistically portraits a life of urban 20-somethings and their life choices and plans. It had moments where the whole cinema was laughing, and the ones when you could hear laugh from some, like-minded to the lifestyle portrayed in the scenes. But, I think everyone got disturbed by some scenes and were made to question how selfish can we be about our life choices and how much should we impose them on others.Girls bring out the weight of their situations to the viewers throughout the film. Soundtrack is fitting greatly, giving life to scenes, but remaining an independent weaver.Film is not exaggerating in any way, and it tastefully makes us conclude we all need to share more empathy and understanding.