Film Review: Private
Mariam does not want to leave her family to study medicine in Germany. She wants to stay and fight the occupation. How
can she make her father understand?(Photo courtesy of CPFF)
Opening night of the 4th Annual Chicago Palestine Film Festival brought Director Saverio Constanzo’s psychological
thriller, “Private,” to the big screen. Inspired by a true story, the film won the Golden Leopard at the 2004 Locarno
Film Festival.
Mohammad Bakri argues with his wife, Samia, about not leaving their home. It lies on the border between an Israeli
settlement and a Palestinian village. In a controversial discussion, Mohammad stresses the importance of principle
because “being a refugee means not being.”
He continues with a line from Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet”: “to be or not to be, that is the question,” which emphasizes
Mohammad’s contempt toward Zionist oppressors for their humiliating treatment of the Palestinians on their native land.
Their life situation is the allegorical outcome of the Oslo Accords: there is no peace, settlements expand through land
confiscation and Palestinian life conditions are worse. Mohammad and his wife’s friend, Zeinab, depend on their faith in
God to see them through these experiences.
Mohammad is a proponent of nonviolent resistance, and he will not allow Israeli soldiers to strip him of his values. He
tells his son, Jamal that if the soldiers tear down their greenhouse, then he and his son will rebuild it until the
soldiers tire of their destruction.
However, Samia’s concern is for their children’s’ lives, as well as their emotional and psychological well-being. A
night of gunshots wears her to the point of giving up. The children absorb the tension and the mixed feelings between
their parents. It affects their concentration on schoolwork and their happiness. The military occupation makes the
oldest son, Yousef, feel like he will die any day. It is the quiet before a military occupation’s storm. Sleep is not
peaceful, which foreshadows an ensuing night raid.
Suddenly, the Israeli Army occupies their house and forces the family to sleep on the floor in Area C: the living room,
or the prison room. Area B – the kitchen and the bathroom – can be used with Israeli permission; and Area A, the
upstairs, is off limits. “Don’t play with me any f-----‘ games,” the soldier says. Despite breaking windows, gunfire
exchanges and utter chaos, the family wakes up in the morning and continues with their daily lives. Eventually, the
soldiers break the spirit of the mother and some of the children, but the father is the family’s anchor. He maintains
some normalcy by asking his children questions about their schoolwork.
In a heated conversation with his eldest daughter, Mariam, Mohammad insists the soldier’s coercive language makes them
the cowards in their egregious occupation of Palestinians. He holds his ground on the nonuse of violence, although Jamal
has secret plans for a hand grenade. Suspense builds every time Mariam sneaks upstairs and hides in a wooden closet so
she can watch the soldiers act in regular pastimes, like watching sports and singing. At one point, the most high-strung
soldier confesses he does not like the occupation’s system. Constanzo shows the soldiers as people, which adds to the
balance of content presentation.
The riveting music builds the scenes by enhancing the emotions, especially in the dream sequences. Samia, Mariam, Jamal
and Yousef make personal decisions that contend with Mohammad’s beliefs. However, Mohammad, who has faith in Allah, is
not always aware of his family’s actions. As head of the family he will see them through this situation, even with a gun
to his head.
Will principle keep the family together? Do the soldiers catch Mariam? Did Nada survive a night of crossfire outside the
locked door? Did the soldiers see little Karim on the forbidden upstairs? Did Jamal’s grenade detonate in the
greenhouse? Does Mohammad survive?
The suspense is almost unbearable.
Then again, life under military occupation is a tormenting reality of horrendous surprises.
***
Directed by: Saverio Constanzo
Produced by: Marion Gianani
Co-Produced by: Offside; Insitituto Luce; Cydonia, in association with RAI Cinema
Starring: Mohammad Bakri and Lion Miller
Music: Alter Ego; Emergency Music Italy
Country of production: Italy
Year: 2004
Language: Arabic, Hebrew and English, with English subtitles
Minutes: 92
*************
Sonia Nettnin is a freelance writer. Her articles and reviews demonstrate civic journalism, with a focus on
international social, economic, humanitarian, gender, and political issues. Media coverage of conflicts from these
perspectives develops awareness in public opinion.
Nettnin received her bachelor's degree in English literature and writing. She did master's work in journalism. Moreover,
Nettnin approaches her writing from a working woman's perspective, since working began for her at an early age.
She is a poet, a violinist and she studied professional dance. As a writer, the arts are an integral part of her
sensibility. Her work has been published in the Palestine Chronicle, Scoop Media and the Washington Report on Middle
East Affairs. She lives in Chicago.