Today, I was back to film again. And would you believe, I finally finished The Syrian Bride (on Sands Films)! I had a little under an hour to go in the film - which took me a few hours to watch, what with stopping and starting throughout, and having to refresh the page twice. SO GLAD to be done with it!
Having said that, I did enjoy it. It's a lot better than you'd expect, from the lukewarm introduction of the guy at the start. He describes it as "almost a soap opera" - and he's right, in a way. He's disparaging of the "middle-class" problems of this family in the Golan Heights, who have arranged a marriage between the younger daughter and a TV star from Syria.
At least he acknowledges that there are complexities peculiar to the setting! Jeez, where do I start? Apart from the suggestion of the bride having had a previous marriage that didn't work out so well (and is never mentioned again).. Well, to start with, as a native of the Golan Heights - whose ownership is disputed between Syria and Israel - she is defined as having no nationality. The marriage is to be celebrated first at home, with a meal, then the bridal party is to go to the Syrian border, where the bride and groom are to meet and, I guess, the actual ceremony is to be performed. The bride then assumes Syrian nationality, and can never return to the Golan. Not even to visit. Which throws rather a pall on things.
Her father is a pro-Syrian revolutionary, and banned from entering the demilitarised, UN-governed border zone. Her older brother married a Russian, thus breaking the conventions of their Druze community - he's been ostracised by the village elders ever since. He's back for the wedding, but their father has been told he'll be shunned as well if he associates with his son. Her middle brother is a rather shady businessman who also lives abroad, and whose attitude at the airport en route gets him delayed by unsympathetic Israeli customs. Her sister is unhappily married, with a traditionalist husband who's determined to quash their elder daughter's relationship with the son of an Israeli collaborator. At least her youngest brother already lives in Syria, where he's a student - so he'll be a familiar face in her new life!
It's actually quite intriguing, as you wonder whether this will be pulled off at all. Will the father go to the border - and if so, will he be arrested, as threatened? Will the sister's marriage break down? What will happen with the older brother? Add all of that, and the red tape on both sides of the border, to the usual wedding problems - and you have a really interesting film. The final sequence, at the border itself, is truly gripping, as problem after problem arises and we wonder whether this can really go ahead..
Recommended. I obviously liked it more than the guy who presented it. Dunno when I'll get to the rest of my film backlog, but I do intend to..
Tomorrow - would you believe it, Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) finally has something at a time I can manage! It's another read play - this time, it's Time Stands Still, starring Laura Linney. And again, it's from TodayTix, with a minimum donation of $5. Delighted I can join them for something, for once. And it's just too bad that London Social Detours also announced another history talk tomorrow - they could have chosen today, for once!
Nothing in particular happening next Saturday - but UITCS is seeing something on Thursday that I might catch up with next Saturday, instead. Fibres is a play by Citizens Theatre, available online for free till the 23rd - the theme is the impact of asbestosis in a Glasgow community. They like you to book, and I have.
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