jotix100 Julian Schnabel's "Miral" was shown recently on cable. Not having seen it before, we decided to take a chance. The director whose previous work showed a rare quality in telling a story, working on Rula Jebreal's novel and with a screenplay by the author, takes a look at recent history, analyzing it from the less popular side of the Palestinians, who have lived in conflict after the creation of the state of Israel in 1947.The story deals with a kind hearted lady, Hind Husseini, who is surprised to find a large amount of orphans roaming the streets. She takes the children into her home, and later creating a school in which to educate and house the young innocent victims. Hind's life was given to help the unfortunate children that came into her school and her life.Miral, a young woman, was the product of the system Ms. Husseini created. Unfortunately, she gets to witness, first hand, the way her fellow Palestinians were being treated by the Israelis. In fact, Miral falls in disgrace when the man she falls in love with, forces her to carry a device which fortunately does not explode. Her life changes instantly as she has to experience the way she is treated and abused by the Israelis.Mr. Schnabel's sympathies are with the Palestinians, something that he has not been able to avoid in the way he presents the material. The many years of fighting between Israel and its neighbor has produced wounds that are hard to heal. The film ends with the Oslo Peace Accords of 1993 in which some hope for peace seemed possible, something that in real life never happened.The wonderful actress Hiam Abass is seen as Hind, although she is only seen briefly as she goes from a young woman to her death. Freida Pinto, the Indian actress does what she can with a role that should have been played by a young Palestinian actress. There are familiar faces among the cast. Vanessa Redgrave and William Dafoe are seen in minor roles.

s-wesner1 Miral: A Film Review for IMDb Miral Shahini was born in 1973, but she credits her education with the existence and presence of Hind Husseini, her mentor and savior, in her life. Hind Husseini opened the school on Christmas Day, 1947, when she opened Dar el Tefl for the world to see; in fact, it had visitors on its very first day. The daughter of a woman who fooled around, literally, at a dance party and gave birth to an illegitimate daughter, or so it seems, born in 1973, like I said, is a Palestinian refugee who travels between the forbidden settlements, so that she can visit her relatives (and go to school). Based on a book by "Rula Jebreal," the film is immensely entertaining, and is about the power and the value of education over the power and value of war (or peace marches, as the case may be, for Mrs. Husseini doesn't like those, either). A French, Italian, Jewish, and Israeli film, the movie is based on a peaceful collaboration between these countries' film-makers, producers, and directors, but it seems to be mostly about the Middle-East (the school is there, and it takes place there). In addition, it is about betrayal, lies, and secrecy, and about how war ruins more lives than does good: take, the scary event where Miral's friend, "Khadib," is shot by Israeli snipers and is killed on the scene. This movie also tells the compelling, and wonderful stories of a certain Fatima, aka, "the good nurse," Hind, of course, and, in the beginning of the film, Nadia, who is forced into near-prostitution as a result of her intolerance of her marriage with a creep who also shows signs of willingness to bed his own daughter. The discretion on the part of the man's wife, who allows this "near-prostitution to go on" is also notable, in the movie.

nyshrink I was amazed at how non-political this movie was. There was a great deal of controversy around it, so I was expecting a polemic. It was nothing of the kind. It portrays the childhood and adolescence of a Palestinian girl, along with stories of her mother and her school headmistress. These stories illustrate, to some degree, the Palestinian history from 1947 to 1993. But the focus is on the women's stories. I think this is a movie that will be appreciated far more by women than by men. It is poignant and respectful. Most women will find something with which to identify in this film. The cinematography is beautiful and the lead actors are compelling in their roles. The movie has been criticized as disjointed, but that's because real life does not have a formulaic dramatic arc. And sadly, there is no "conclusion" to the movie because the conflict is ongoing.

Spencergo First I must say that before seeing this film I had not read the book it was based on so I have to assume that the film follows the book. As the writer of the book also participated in the scripting of the film, one would think that this film is a collaboration between the author of the book and the director Julian Schnabel. This being said, I have tried to review this film without prejudice.When the film ended my first thoughts were that this film would cause a stir as it is directed by a Jew and yet the subject matter of the film shows the Jewish State of Israel in a negative light. My concerns were not as much for the film itself, as it is a well made film, but for the attitude that the Jewish population would have towards the film. In my own experience, as someone who has been directly involved with distribution of film, whenever there is a group that has a negative response the distribution can go one of two ways; the first being limited distribution as some will not support showing the film in their theaters, and the second being a tremendous response to good cinema where theaters will take the risk and book the film at a national level. "Miral" a film that should have widespread distribution, because of what the Jewish population will do in response to the anti Israel theme, this film will be reduced to Art House distribution."Miral" deals with a Palestinian community in turmoil due to change. That change was the effect that the new Statehood of Israel caused. As with any new regimes change is mandatory and an often misunderstood process and the story of "Miral" reflects that process.The film boasts a well woven story, competent acting, and a visceral message. This is a relevant film and well worth seeing. It is multiple-layered and a multiple-leveled film. It would be a shame if the Jewish Community misreads the intention of the film. Films like this do not come around often and avoiding it out of ignorance would be a mistake. .