It Must Be Heaven (2019)
Country: FR/QAT/GER/CAN/TUR/PAL
Technical: col/2.66:1 102m
Director: Elia Suleiman
Cast: Elia Suleiman, Tarik Kopty, Asmaa Azaizeh
Synopsis:
The Palestinian director travels to Paris and New York in search of backing for his new film, but encounters only bizarre echoes of life back home.
Review:
As in Divine Intervention, Suleiman's narrative consists of a series of tableaux/vignettes highlighting the absurdity of life in Palestine: the security presence, the contradictions surrounding alcohol consumption, the roots of ancient lore and custom. Like Tati, the director observes but does not intervene, scarcely uttering a syllable but occasionally arching his eyebrows. He is a genial presence but even so some of the sequences outstay their welcome. That said, there is a formal brilliance here, every composition, every tracking shot, meticulously choreographed, with a deadpan humour bordering on the surreal, many of the points, alas, going over the non-Palestinian head. The extraordinary scenes of a deserted Paris (pre-Covid) speak to considerable cooperation on the part of the authorities.
Country: FR/QAT/GER/CAN/TUR/PAL
Technical: col/2.66:1 102m
Director: Elia Suleiman
Cast: Elia Suleiman, Tarik Kopty, Asmaa Azaizeh
Synopsis:
The Palestinian director travels to Paris and New York in search of backing for his new film, but encounters only bizarre echoes of life back home.
Review:
As in Divine Intervention, Suleiman's narrative consists of a series of tableaux/vignettes highlighting the absurdity of life in Palestine: the security presence, the contradictions surrounding alcohol consumption, the roots of ancient lore and custom. Like Tati, the director observes but does not intervene, scarcely uttering a syllable but occasionally arching his eyebrows. He is a genial presence but even so some of the sequences outstay their welcome. That said, there is a formal brilliance here, every composition, every tracking shot, meticulously choreographed, with a deadpan humour bordering on the surreal, many of the points, alas, going over the non-Palestinian head. The extraordinary scenes of a deserted Paris (pre-Covid) speak to considerable cooperation on the part of the authorities.
Country: FR/QAT/GER/CAN/TUR/PAL
Technical: col/2.66:1 102m
Director: Elia Suleiman
Cast: Elia Suleiman, Tarik Kopty, Asmaa Azaizeh
Synopsis:
The Palestinian director travels to Paris and New York in search of backing for his new film, but encounters only bizarre echoes of life back home.
Review:
As in Divine Intervention, Suleiman's narrative consists of a series of tableaux/vignettes highlighting the absurdity of life in Palestine: the security presence, the contradictions surrounding alcohol consumption, the roots of ancient lore and custom. Like Tati, the director observes but does not intervene, scarcely uttering a syllable but occasionally arching his eyebrows. He is a genial presence but even so some of the sequences outstay their welcome. That said, there is a formal brilliance here, every composition, every tracking shot, meticulously choreographed, with a deadpan humour bordering on the surreal, many of the points, alas, going over the non-Palestinian head. The extraordinary scenes of a deserted Paris (pre-Covid) speak to considerable cooperation on the part of the authorities.