Private
by Saverio Costanzo
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Lior Miller, Mohammad BakriDirector: Saverio Costanzo
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled); Arabic (Original Language); English (Original Language); Hebrew (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Digital Sound, DVD, Letterboxed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 90 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-06-06
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Typecast Releasing
Movie Reviews of Private
Movie Review: Brutal, honest, sincere
Summary: 5 Stars
Easily the best film I have seen on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Private expresses the intense antagonisms of the political conflict through an extremely particular interaction between a Palestinian family and an Israeli military unit. Though the political and the personal are woven into each and every struggle of the film, characters are accorded their humanity in personal terms, avoiding the common descent into generalization of many films on this conflict.
The greatest strength of this film is that, though the conflict is central to every piece of the story, it is expressed primarily in its pervasive influence on the individual: the brutality of power, racism, the struggle to maintain purpose amidst uncertainty and fear. In doing this, the film refuses to draw clear lines. There are few heroes, and their moments of redemeption are not grand but small, reluctant, even accidental.
This film has not received the publicity of other recent films and documentaries on the conflict. I fear this is partly because it does not provide that warm, fuzzy feeling U.S. audiences seek. But, probably more important, the film is geared for an audience that is already familiar with the conflict. There is little explanation of who the characters are or the circumstances in which the plot occurs. These are immediately obvious to those familiar with the conflict, but may lead to confusion on the part of many viewers.
Still, if it is a window into the intimate struggles of the conflict you seek, I can not recommend any better film. While one can not help but draw broader implications, it is very clear that the characters are not meant to be merely lowest-common-denominator representatives of their respective societies. Each tells their own tale, and the parts do not add up to the whole story of the conflict, but the pieces that are presented are thoroughly and sincerely told.
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