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Bethlehem (2013)

By Dave Griffiths @goodbaduglyshow · On August 15, 2014


The Gist

A young Palestinian teenager Sanfur (Shadi Mar’i) finds himself at the forefront of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict when he is recruited by an Israeli Agent, Razi (Tsahi Halevi) to feed the Israelis information about a new terror group that is very much involved with Sanfur’s family.

The Review

This really seems to be the year when films out of the Middle East have really announced just how strong their film industry is. Both Omar and Rock The Kasbah were brilliant films that used the political unrest and war-zone backdrop of the Middle East to great effect. Now comes Bethlehem, a film that not only once again reintegrates the strength of Israeli filmmaking but also announces the arrival of Yuval Adler as a filmmaker who should certainly be watched in the future.

At times Bethlehem does become a bit of a slow burn but the suspense burns at its audience all the way throughout the film. It fact even during the slower parts of the film the tension is always there. As a filmmaker Adler doesn’t spoon-feed his audience like many American filmmakers would. The film keeps throwing questions at its audience right from the start. Instantly you are hit wondering how this Palestinian teenager has ended up being an Israeli informant and then that suspense remains as it seems Sanfur never really knows who he can trust and who will find out his secret next. Outside of Martin Scorsese’s The Departed there are very few films that manage to keep the suspense going like Bethlehem does.

The other strength that Adler brings to Bethlehem is that he never allows his film to take sides in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. While Bethlehem may have been Israel’s entrant into the Foreign Film category at the Oscars you could hardly call it a pro-Israeli film. The film shows the dirty tricks and violence that occurs in both the Israeli and Palestinian camps but also seems to suggest that you are never safe no matter how well you to protect yourself.

The only thing that Bethlehem can really be faulted with is the fact that some of the sub-plots are never really brought to completion. One area of the film that held the audience’s interest early on was just how far Sanfur was willing to go to prove to his friends that he was loyal to them, which included being shot while wearing a bulletproof vest, however as the film goes on that part of the story just seemed to fall by the wayside. As an audience member it would have also been nice to have seen the relationship between spy and handler explored a little bit more. Having said that though Bethlehem is a lot more believable as a spy-thriller than any James Bond film.

The Verdict

Strong performances by the leading men, Tsahi Halevi and Shadi Mar’i, and some great directing by debut director Yuval Adler make for a very special film that seems to drift between being a well-written spy-thriller and an old-style Western standoff remarkably well. The film contains a number of scenes involving high tension that would be lost on most debut filmmakers and is a film that strongly deserved its Oscar push.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSwPlEhA308

Certificate: CTC

Director: Yuval Adler

Starring: Tsahi Halevi, Shadi Mar’i

Running Time: 100 minutes

Release Date: TBA

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BethlehemShadi Mar'iTsahi HaleviYuval Adler
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Dave Griffiths

Dave Griffiths has worked as a journalist for over twenty years now -covering topics including film, television, music, travel and sport (with a main focus on AFL Football). That time has seen him host the popular X-Wired television program for seven seasons as well as write for various magazines such as Buzz Magazine, Heavy Mag, Stage Whispers, The Banner and Eternity.. He has even branched out into writing online for Subculture Entertainment, Media Search and The Book The Film The T-Shirt. He also worked as the online editor for Entertainment 360 for three years. Dave's radio work has seen him work on various radio stations including 3RPP, Triple R and Light FM. He is currently the resident film reviewer on Sydney's 2UE radio station and can be heard reviewing what is new at cinemas and on DVD each week on Wednesdays at 3pm with Ed Phillips. He is also the co-host of Melbourne's 94.1FM's breakfast show 'The Motley Crew' and he can sometimes be heard on J-Air's 'First On Film'. David is also the co-host of two popular podcasts - ‘The Good, The Bad, The Ugly Film Show,' and 'The Popcorn Conspiracy' As far as Film Reviewing goes David is an elected committee member of AFCA (Australian Film Critics Association and a member of IPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics)/FIPRESCI (Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique). He has also served as a jury member for a number of international film festivals and is considered an expert on cult cinema, horror movies and Australian films.

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