Keswick Film Club - Reviews - Palestine 36

Writer/Director Annemarie Jacir had a huge task on her hands. The little known story of the 1936 Arab revolt in Palestine needed to be told but the underlying issues were complex; the different factions in local politics; religious tensions between Moslems and Christians let alone the growing population of Jewish settlers; the divide between the urban centre of Jerusalem where the landowners reside and the rural farmers, scratching a living in the countryside; the all-too-human traits of greed and personal advancement and above all that, the dominant and coercive control of the British Colonial power.

To give the largely uninformed film-goer a feel for that context whilst at the same time delivering a fast-paced action film was a huge achievement for Jacir. Some of the characters were perhaps a little two-dimensional as a result and yes, some of the dialogue was a little clunky given the need to move the plot along but the parallels she managed to draw between the 1930's and present-day Palestine were chilling.

The plot centred around Yusuf, the son of a farmer who split his time on the land with a job for a member of the elite in Jerusalem. As more and more land is taken from the farmers who had tended it for generations and passed on to the new settlers, with the slightest protest being first ignored and then brutally punished by the British, Yusuf and others have no option but to take up arms. And so begins the spiral of violence and revenge that we still see today.

In one telling scene, the British High Commissioner brings in an anti-insurgency expert, from his post in India. He rejects any idea of compromise with the Palestinians, stating the 'We don't want another Ireland'. Ireland, India, Palestine – we British have a habit of drawing lines on other countries' maps and triggering consequences that last for generations.

A sobering film but one hugely appreciated by a big audience at the Alhambra.