MartinHafer "According to the NY Times as of June 2013 the film has been banned or refused release in every Arab country for the crime of filming in Israel."---IMDb Trivia Aside in Morocco (which I don't think is an Arab nation, though it is a predominantly Muslim nation), this film was banned in many countries simply because it was filmed in Israel. It's a shame, as the message is important--one everyone should hear and discuss.Amin is a very well respected doctor who not only works in the country, but he thrives. He's a Palestinian but not particularly religious and has no problem working with Jews. And, naturally, when there is a nearby suicide bombing, he works to save as many of the victims as he can. However, after going home from this exhaustive shift, he receives an emergency phone call--he needs to come to work immediately. There, he's told that they think the suicide bomber was his wife! Not surprisingly, he cannot accept this--especially since his wife is a Palestinian Christian and seems to have no interest in the Occupied Territories. But, eventually he realizes the truth--but it leaves him with so many questions--questions he might be able to have answered in Nablus on the West Bank. However, like the Jews had become once they learned his wife was the killer, the Palestinians are NOT welcoming and he's threatened repeatedly and told to leave. What's next? See the film.This is a very interesting film. Seeing Amin dealing with the various stages of grief was interesting. What was even more interesting is that the film does not provide us with answers and so much of it would be great to see and discuss. A thought-provoking and very well made film.

kleinsdesigns One of the most disappointing films we've ever seen. The audience walked out puzzled and bothered.How could you take a magnificent cast of actors, give them a wonderful script, and then screw it up so badly?!I personally think the film could be used as a recruitment film for terrorists on both sides of the conflict. The world doesn't need more of that!I do not want to include a spoiler. Suffice it to say it was a wasted evening.One note: There is a scene about a "Jenin massacre", which never happened and was so blatantly false that it was immediately repudiated in most of the world press. I guess lower standards in some parts of the world can keep a lie going eternally.

samkan Having said as much in my comment's title, as a film THE ATTACK is almost perfectly done. To say the it never drags for a second is understating it's compelling drama and story telling. To say it's artfully shot, scripted and directed becomes almost unappreciated and taken for granted in light of the movies' other attributes. To say the actors are magnificent makes one wonder how come many viewers have probably never seen any of them perform before. So intriguing and intense is the work that captivating suspense is almost a by-product. Putting all of the above together would make an Oscar-worthy film if the subject matter was aliens or teen love. But the subject matter is the contemporary Middle East tragedy. Such roughly parallels the lives of the USA's baby-boom generation and tends to become invisible by, ironically, the groaning decades of conflicts, bombings and hatred blurring into episodes with interchangeable parts. For my 17 year old son sitting next to me, I truly hope THE ATTACK served as a primer on the horror and tragedy of the Middle East today. Certainly the film must instantly be recognized as a must- see not just about the Israel-Palestinian conflict but religious and cultural dogma in general. Presently the film sits in my mind for many reasons, one being as a twisted bookend to EXODUS, which I first watched almost a half-century ago. If you're a serious film buff, don't miss this work!

Ruben Mooijman This film, about the complex relations between Arabs and Jews in Israel, has been banned in the Arab world because it has been made in Israel, with Israeli actors. At the same time, it has been criticized by radical Zionists in Israel because it shows how Palestinians think. Director Doueiri says it's a good thing that the criticism comes from both sides: it proves that he made a very balanced film. But the flip side is that his film gets much less exposure than it deserves. 'The Attack' shows how the life of a successful Arab surgeon, living in Tel Aviv, is turned upside down when his wife doesn't come home one night. It turns out she has blown herself to pieces in a suicide attack. The surgeon tries to find out how the woman he loved could turn into a terrorist, killing 17 people, including 11 small children. During his search to understand her motivations, he starts to question his own life. Being a successful Israeli Arab, he has turned his back to his roots in Nablus, and has become friends with Jews. At the end of the film, he has begun to understand a little bit about his wife's motivations, and, to the astonishment of his Jewish friends, refuses to give information about the attack to the Israeli authorities. The film captures this internal struggle of one man very well. The dilemmas and paradoxes in his life are symbolic for the problems of the Israel-Palestine conflict. In the first scene, when he receives an important Israeli medical prize, he says it shouldn't be an issue that the winner is an Arab. But a few hours later, after the deadly attack, one of the Jewish victims refuses to be treated by this prize-winning Arab doctor. Although the doctor wishes to be just an Israeli citizen, regardless of religion, the facts and circumstances make this impossible. Director Doueiri shows the doctor's struggle in sober images. He chooses not to show the deadly attack, but to let the explosion be heard by the doctor, having lunch in the open air restaurant of the hospital. The same cinematographic distance is used when showing the situation in Nablus, on the West Bank. The Palestinians are not shown as helpless victims, but as proud people in their own right. This is not a film about fanatics or religious zealots. This is a film about ordinary people, doing their daily jobs and trying to cope with the difficult situation that is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.