219. It Must Be Heaven; movie review

 

IT MUST BE HEAVEN

Cert 15

102 mins

BBFC advice: Contains strong language

What must it be like to hail from a country where war never seems to come to an end and where national identity and borders are a matter of constant debate.

We have had our problems in Britain in recent years but by comparison to the horrors of Palestine, we have had it lucky.

However, Elia Suleiman's unusual and often surreal It Must Be Heaven shows that regimes in the west might have more in common with those in his homeland than we might think.

Suleiman plays himself as a spectator to events in Palestine before moving on to Paris and then New York where he seeks backing for a movie with the concept of It Must Be Heaven.

In the main, his character is silent while chaos unravels around him in short unconnected scenes, often reminding him of home.

But the audience, while admiring the cleverness of scenes such as the one in which a bird keeps interrupting his work by running onto his laptop, could well be as perplexed as I was over its purpose.

Suleiman comes from Nazareth where the Israeli police are hardline against the majority Arab population.

However, he finds that in supposed liberal democracies, they are also a suppressor of dissent and are suspicious of outsiders.

His deadpan, silent approach demands great comic timing and I can see that it would capture some hearts.

However, others will be wondering what some of the scenes are trying to say or, indeed, whether they have any pointed purpose at all.

Unfortunately, I have to admit that I fall into that category.

Reasons to watch: Surreal but compelling

Reasons to avoid: It will be too off-the-wall for many

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 6/10

Did you know? Nazareth is the largest city in the Northern District of Israel and is known as the Arab capital of Israel. Its inhabitants are predominantly Arab citizens of Israel, of whom 69% are Muslim and 30.9% Christian.

The final word. Elia Suleiman: "There's a global “Palestinianisation” of the state of things. The police state and the violence are now like a familiar common ground everywhere we go. So the tension and the anxiety are now practically everywhere and it's no longer just a local conflict." Cineuropa

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