Touches You

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

"Lemon Tree" rehearses a phenomenon all too familiar in the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians -- the seizure of Arab property by the Israeli government. It's usually olive trees and the path of the Israeli security fence. Here it's a 50-year-old lemon grove across the road from the new home of Israel's defense minister. It pits a widowed Palestinian woman against the Israeli security apparatus, which is determined to protect the minister against the possibility of a terrorist attack. The main thing that's wrong with this premise is that an incoming defense minister is not going to build his house on the border (and the wife of the Defense Minister is not likely to leave him because the lemon grove is destroyed and she has developed an emotional connection with the Arab woman). There are any number of possible scenarios which could have made the confrontation entirely plausible, equally dramatic and far more realistic. It would have been better (in my view) if there had been a legitimate dilemma between the property rights of the Palestinian woman and the security needs of the Israeli authorities. Although I sympathized with the Palestinian woman as was intended, the situation was entirely too contrived. The director could have made the same film based on one the all- too-many actual incidents which have occurred.

Salma Zidani, a Palestinian widow living near the 'green zone' that separates Israel and the West Bank, has been living in the same place all her life. The lemon trees that surround her house provide a meager existence to this woman. Peace is about to be broken when the house on the Israeli side is finished. The occupant is the Israeli minister of defense, Israel Davon, and his designer wife Mira. Obviously neither one did not count on the possibility of being the target for an attack, otherwise it did not make sense to choose that location.Suddenly, the whole place undergoes a transformation because the security detail that protects the safety of the minister deems the grove on the other side can serve terrorists willing to harm this important man. Salma is notified in a letter about how her property will be sealed in an effort to enforce security. Not being able to read, or speak Hebrew, she must go for help. For that she goes to Ziad Daud, a lawyer, who agrees to assist her in taking her case to court.Things conspire against Salma. The first step is denied because in the appropriation law there is a stipulation for compensation only. Salma and Ziad decide to take it to the highest court. Ziad, a divorced man, feels an attraction for Salma, who, at 45, shows a beauty, not only in her person, but in the sweetness she exudes. There are some people in the community that do not take kindly the closeness Salma and Ziad show.Mira, who looks through her windows to the now fenced lemon trees, begins to change her position in the situation that was created by their arrival. Although not a word is exchanged, the two women show they understand one another. Things come to a head when the minister sends one subordinate to gather lemons for the house opening. Salma, who has secretly been tending the trees, goes into a frenzy seeing her precious fruit being stolen. She realizes she is helpless against a strong opponent. Unfortunately, Salma's plea at the Israel Supreme Court is denied. As a solution, the presiding judge orders the trees can only be of a certain height so the security detail can watch for enemies trying to harm the minister and his family. Mira, who has been in the courthouse during the trial, realizes her marriage is over. Salma ends up by herself as Ziad marries a younger woman.Eran Riklis, the director of "The Syrian Bride", working with Suha Arraf, who also contributed to that film, team again to give us another account involving neighboring Israelis and Palestinians, two factions that have been in conflict for a few thousand years without any indication their problems will ever be solved. The story plays like a fable; the moral of the story is that the more powerful side will always come on top. Salma is too small to fight such formidable enemy. Minister Davon is seen at the end of the story looking at the wall that has been erected around his property, and much of Israel to keep him away terrorism and from a harmless poor woman, now without her beloved lemon trees.Hiam Abbas, the marvelous Palestine actress, keeps surprising us with every new appearance. Her Salma is another creation where this actress gives one of her dignified renditions in front of a camera. Ms. Abbas shows such a quiet intensity that amazes us whenever she appears. Ali Suliman's Ziad Daud is wonderful. Ms. Abbas and Mr. Suliman have appeared together in several films; acting for them must come naturally. We also enjoyed Rona Lipaz-Michael, a beautiful woman, seen as Mira. Doron Tavory, Smadar Jaaron and the rest of the supporting cast do a credible job for Mr. Riklis.

I watched this film a few days ago on ARTE, a French-German television. I was glad I had that opportunity, given the enthusiastic reviews I had read on the press. I was greatly disappointed. The film is really nothing to write home about. The plot is so one-sided, and the characters are so grossly divided into good ones and bad ones, that I'm very surprised reviews could be so positive. The point is not that it's pro-Palestinian: I, for one, have over time become a staunch critic of Israel and its policies, especially those of its present government. My point is that I expect films to be somewhat different from fairy tales. Of course, films can't be a history essay; but I get the disquieting impression that this film, with its mixture of an innocent victim, a cynical politician and his sensitive wife, is a cunning exercise in overt exploitation of the public's goodwill.

LEMON TREE is a poignant story of bitter loss, featuring wonderful acting by all the leads, which makes its inherent message all the more sinister. The main character in this movie is a middle-aged widow, Salma Zidane (Hiam Abbass). Her son has thoughtlessly abandoned her to live the high life in the United States. Her surrogate father (posing under the guise of a worker in her lemon orchard) has been left behind to watch her every move, no doubt reporting the least incident to the local authorities. When a nice single man takes an interest in her, the local big-wig comes to her hovel and practically threatens her with a public stoning if she doesn't drive the younger guy away, because 1)any sex in the final 50 years of her life would dishonor the memory of her died-young-of-a-heart-attack husband, and, presumably, 2)it is the young lawyer's public duty to choose a mate in her late teens who can churn out 15 or 20 children before she's through. This film MAY be based on an actual court case, but the peripheral details (as summarized above) with which the filmmakers decided to flesh out the story just perpetuate anti-Palestinian stereotypes that are bound to cause American audiences to turn an even deafer ear to any news coming out of the Mideast.