Phonearl Good start, but then it gets ruined

MamaGravity good back-story, and good acting

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Kirandeep Yoder The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

tieman64 "I will do everything in my power to make sure they never get a state. There is place only for one state on the land of Israel. We do not believe in a two-state solution." - Danny Danon (Israeli Minister of Defense) "Flatten all of Gaza! The Americans didn't stop with Hiroshima – the Japanese weren't surrendering fast enough, so they hit Nagasaki too. There should be no electricity in Gaza, no neighbourhoods, no gasoline or moving vehicles, nothing. There is no middle path here." - Gilad Sharon "The essential nature of Judaism resists the idea of a Jewish state with borders, an army, and a measure of temporal power, no matter how modest. I am afraid of the inner damage Judaism will sustain, especially from the development of a narrow nationalism within our own ranks, against which we have already had to fight strongly, even without a Jewish state." - Einstein Based on a semi-autobiographical novel by Rula Jebreal, Julian Schnabel's "Miral" opens at a Christmas Day celebration. It is 1947, and Hind al-Hussein (Hiam Abbas), a member of Palestine's upper class, is mingling with wealthy expatriates within Jerusalem. All seems well in her world, until Israeli forces begin committing massacres, most notably at the village of Deir Yassin. Hind takes the orphans of this massacre into her palatial family estate, which she promptly turns into the orphanage of Dar Al-Tifel. Pretty soon over three quarters of a million Palestinians are being expelled from their villages by the ethnic cleansing which accompanies Israel's declaration of statehood. Hind tries to help, but finds herself overwhelmed.Schnabel's film then delves into the life of Miral (Freida Pinto), a young girl who grows up in Hind's orphanage. Miral becomes interested in politics, radicalised, and begins to protest Israel's various occupations and land thefts. Spurred by injustice, she embraces Palestinian nationalism, but to no avail. The film points to the dead-end of Palestinian nationalism, but can't offer any other solution."Miral" is choppy and rife with clichés, but is brave in adopting a Palestinian point-of-view. Today, our entire cultural milieu marginalises Palestinians or even outright denounces their right to exist. Coupled to this is Israel's insistence that Palestine "recognise Israel". But which Israel does it wish be recognised? Israel never declares its own borders. Should the Palestinians accept the lines proposed by the 1948 UN Partition Plans or the one that extends to the 1949, post-war Armistice Line? Does Israel include the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which it has occupied in violation of international law for 40 Years? And why should the Palestinians recognise an Israel that refuses to accept international law, submit to UN resolutions or accept Palestinians expelled from their homes in the 1940s? Masking its own anxieties (the UN security council never rubber stamped Israel's own "right to exist"), Israel wants Palestine not only to endorse its existence, but to legitimise the violence directed at the Palestinian people. Meanwhile, Israel continues to scuttle peace talks, fans Hamas-Fatah conflicts and spurs in-fighting within Palestinian camps by supporting, as far back as the 1960s, right-wing Islamic factions. "Miral" denounces violence and urges Palestine to play nice, but Palestine has been doing this for decades. All the while, more land is appropriated by Israel.Julian Schnabel's aesthetic is choppy and frenetic. His film is at its best when playing with the metaphors from Jebreal's novel. Miral, for example, is named after a desert flow, emblematic of a Palestine which wishes to blossom and grow. Israel, of course, views this flower as a weed; a wild plant which must be extinguished.7/10 – Worth one viewing. See Yoav Shamir's "Checkpoint".

Rich Wright Can a film be done well in almost all departments, but still be disliked? In short: yes. The beautiful Freida Pinto, of Slumdog Millionaire fame, plays Miral, who gets involved in the campaign for a free Israel in the late 80's. According to the text at the end, she's grown up to be a top international journalist. Good for her. What I do question though, is whether her story was worth committing to celluloid. On this evidence, I would say not.Pinto doesn't even appear until halfway through... we have to wade through a lot of back story involving miscellaneous characters before we meet our heroine, all grown up. Described as a 'terrorist' on the movie poster, this is a bit misleading... she just hands out some leaflets, holds onto some sensitive books for her rebel boyfriend. Her one brush with the law is quickly dealt with, and the rest of the time she has inconsequential chats with her friends and family. Snore.When the ending arrived, I couldn't believe it. I'd invested 90+ minutes for... THAT? In the past, I've criticised Hollywood biopics for sometimes play and fast with the truth. If giving us a straight account of someone's life ends up like this, perhaps my mind has been completely changed on the subject... 5/10

Lee Eisenberg Without a doubt, the Israel-Palestine conflict has been one of the most controversial issues of the past few decades, and one on which very few movies are willing to focus. That makes Julian Schnabel's "Miral" all the more important.The movie is based on Palestinian author Rula Jebreal's autobiography, focusing half on her childhood and half on the Dar al-Tifl Institute founded in the wake of the Deir Yassin Massacre. The institute's founder Hind Husseini (Hiam Abbass) manages to keep the institute and its students safe from events outside. Miral (Freida Pinto) gets sent to Dar al-Tifl at the age of seven. Her life is mostly easy until the intifada, when Israel tightens security, making life even more difficult for the Palestinians. Miral's friend Hani (Omar Metwally) insists on taking militant action against the occupying forces, while Hind Husseini warns Miral not to do anything that endangers her future. In short, Miral has practically no good choices.Aside from bringing up the Israel-Palestine conflict, part of what I like about "Miral" is that it shows the day-to-day lives of the Palestinians. The reminds us that these people about whom we usually hear in the context of war -- or simply get called terrorists -- are human beings. If the movie has any downside, it's that the jumping back and forth between Miral herself and Dar al-Tifl is a bit confusing at times, but overall I strongly recommend this movie.Also starring Alexander Siddig, Makram Khoury, Willem Dafoe and Vanessa Redgrave (who of course mentioned Palestine while accepting her Oscar for "Julia").

nyshrink I was amazed at how non-political this movie was. There was a great deal of controversy around it, so I was expecting a polemic. It was nothing of the kind. It portrays the childhood and adolescence of a Palestinian girl, along with stories of her mother and her school headmistress. These stories illustrate, to some degree, the Palestinian history from 1947 to 1993. But the focus is on the women's stories. I think this is a movie that will be appreciated far more by women than by men. It is poignant and respectful. Most women will find something with which to identify in this film. The cinematography is beautiful and the lead actors are compelling in their roles. The movie has been criticized as disjointed, but that's because real life does not have a formulaic dramatic arc. And sadly, there is no "conclusion" to the movie because the conflict is ongoing.