Underplayed Gems

Divine Intervention (2002)

Divine Intervention poster
Original title
يد إلهية‎
Directed by
Elia Suleiman
Genre
drama film, comedy film
Country
Morocco, Palestine, Germany, France
Runtime
1h 40m
Rated
NR
Rating
6.6 of 10 from 57 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

A Palestinian man in Nazareth visits his girlfriend in Ramallah across Israeli checkpoints. The film follows their daily routines through quiet scenes and absurd moments. One scene imagines a woman causing checkpoint towers to collapse with her gaze.

slowminimalistdeadpansurrealmelancholicabsurdsubtlecontemplative

What happens

Divine Intervention (Arabic: يد إلهية, romanized: yad ʾilāhiyya, lit. 'divine hand') is a 2002 surreal black comedy film co-produced, written and directed by Elia Suleiman. The film consists largely of a series of brief interconnected sketches, but for the most part records a day in the life of a Palestinian living in Nazareth, whose girlfriend lives several checkpoints away in the West Bank city of Ramallah. One lyrical section features a sunglasses-clad Palestinian woman (played by Manal Khader) whose passing by not only distracts all eyes, but whose gaze causes Israeli military checkpoint towers to crumble. The director features prominently as the film's silent, expressionless protagonist in a performance that has been compared to the work of Buster Keaton, Jim Jarmusch and Jacques Tati. The film is noted for its minimal use of dialogue, its slow pace and repetition in behavior by its characters. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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