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.
'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.