Yusri Nasrallah, brings us a film that is distinct and one which gives us hope. The story is by Elias Khouri and is in two parts. The first is called “Al-Raheel” (The Departure) and the second “Al-Owdah” (The Return). The movie deals with Palestinian existence during 50 years of exile and occupation. And without the least doubt, it is the movie of the hour, one which plumbs the roots of the Palestinian issue as well as recording the human epic of a nation that has been lost for more than half a century and is still searching for its place in the sun. The nation has not died but is standing its ground, looking the dark reality in the face.
The camera transforms the observer into a part of the cinematic moment. The observer is plunged immediately; the film begins with a wedding. The groom is Khalil (Basil Al-Khayyat) and the bride is Nuhaila (Reem Turki). The scene is in a traditional town, Al-Zaiytun, known for its heritage, traditions, clothing and rituals connected to the earth and the soil. The film moves at once from a wedding celebration to a scene of guns, bullets and loudspeakers ordering the villagers to move. The wedding is thus transformed and people are shot, blood spilled and terror is registered on the faces of men, women and children. It is an unusual scene in terms of spontaneity, sincerity and violence.
The producer is a master when it comes to spinning the history of Palestine, focusing on the victim and leaving the other party in the dark. There is of course a love story between the hero who joins the resistance and his wife who remains in her village, Al-Jalil. Over the years of the 50s and 60s, he regularly smuggles himself from Lebanon to Al-Jalil to see his wife at Bab Shams. They have a son and he leaves to rejoin the resistance in Lebanon.
The movie was shot in Syria and Lebanon with actors of varying Arab nationalities including Egyptian, Palestinian, Lebanese and Tunisians as well as the French actress, Beatrice Dalle. It marks a return to epic films that record the history of the Arab world in the 20th century and up to the present. The movie was shown at the Cannes Festival for International Cinema and has been a financial success. It was also shown at both international and Arab film festivals including the Carthage Festival in Tunis and the Marrakech Festival in Morocco. Time magazine made it 8 on its list of the 10 best movies for 2004.