Ticket to Jerusalem

Like other reviewers, I watched this film out of sheer curiosity, as I don't think I'd seen a Palestinian film before and I'm always keen to gain perspectives of other cultures - plus the 'plot' just seemed rather charming. Also mentioned in other reviews, this film does appear to portray everyday life in the West Bank pretty well, and if it had earnestly focused on the trials and tribulations of a man who simply loved showing films to communities with his old-school projector, it would have made for much more interesting viewing.

Sadly though it becames clear that every second or third scene is dedicated to dialogue spelling out the Israel/Palestine issue completely unnecessarily, which quickly becomes predictable. The storyline and imagery alone would suffice to portray the struggles faced by the main character, however the repetetive anti-Isreal pathos ultimately detracts from what otherwise could have been an insightful little movie.

Everyday life in the west bank. No violence. The queues at the checkpoint, the lack of jobs, the occasional shouting with the spouse, the friendships. More like a reality TV show following the everyday life of a citizen crossing chasms between two cultures, religions, languages, and physical barriers. Also noted that the greatest percentage of votes in this website were in the lowest category available ("1"). I would argue that those voters were politically motivated, and did not consider the overall motion picture quality, which was decent and engaging and not boring. Because there are considerable outdoor scenes that involve military equipment, curious wether the Israelis provided some support for this production.

The plot of the movie is in fact rather simple: A palestinian movie projectionist travels from camp to camp to show movies to the children. Movies are his life, he lives for cinema and it is always a drama when a projector fails or a new lamp is needed. One day he meets a school teacher who wants to arrange a show in Jerusalem, but Palestinians are not allowed to enter the city, let alone with cinema equipment. In the end he smuggles the equipment and the show takes place...

I went to see the film at our local festival - not because I was attracted by the plot but to get a glimpse of what everyday life is like in the palestinian autonomy regions. And it is in this field where the film does its best job: The story is indeed not very complex and technically (lighting...) the movie is not a masterpiece, but you do get an insight in family live and day-to-day affairs of the people living in Ramallah - and yes, these things do exist despite they never make it to the news. Crossing military checkpoints everyday on the way to work, the hassle to get hold of a lamp for a 16mm projector, bombings, water-pipe shops, economical crisis in the occupied and autonomous areas, Israeli settlers occupying houses, and still normal people getting by - all these things are shown in a non-spectacular fashion. Which makes the film so interesting...