Miral (2011)

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  June 1, 2011

  SirPant

  Reading the various negative reviews of Miral is laughable. I very much doubt that any of the critics have actually read Rula Jebreal's heartbreaking novel on which the film is based. I have actually read her novel, the true story of her life in the Dar El-Tifel orphanage and the... read more film captures her words perfectly. Like any adaptation, there are parts missing but the key moments are there and are glorious - If there is one thing Julian Schnabel has proved, it's that he has the utmost respect for every adaptation he has directed. I would suggest that the critics have more problems with the political viewpoints than the film itself but that just shows their ignorance. Hind al-Husseini was a remarkable person and it is great to see her recognised here for the good she has done, it would be great to see a film dedicated to telling her story in detail. Julian Schnabel still doesn't seem to be getting the credit he deserves, maybe I'm a little bit biased because he made a film about my favourite artists and adapted my favourite book but then again, wouldn't that make me more critical of his work? Miral is a great film, it is not a 'muddled melodrama' like the American press would have you believe, it is an important insight into the lives of the orphans of the Deir Yassin massacre and the unrest there ever since and should be seen. Julian Schnabel has got this one just right, if he hadn't I very much doubt his girlfriend RULA JEBREAL!! would have let him direct/release it.

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  April 17, 2011

  dunmyer

  "Miral," the new film from writer-director Julian Schnabel, is more a work of politics than a work of art, and it's not that interesting even as a work of politics. It presents a very basic pro-Palestinian point of view that skirts all the really tough issues that make the Israel... read morei/Palestinian struggle so intractable. I'm not sure what value there is in over-simplifying Middle Eastern politics and making what is essentially a TV movie based on these matters.
  
  
  "Miral" is put together reasonably well. Schnabel (whose previous films were "Before Night Falls" and "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly") appears to have decided early on to create a very simple movie, and he maintains careful focus on delivering that objective. Freida Pinto ("Slumdog Millionaire") does an adequate job playing the eponymous lead character, who grows up mostly in an orphanage and gets involved in the "intifada" movement in the late 1980s. This of course puts her on a collision course with the Israeli Police.
  
  
  An example of the film's laughable over-simplifications concerns the 1967 Six-Day War. The war, first of all, is never explained, but the aftermath is discussed. The Israeli "occupation" of the West Bank that followed the war is presented as simple aggression on the part of Israel. There is no mention of the endless violence waged on Israel from that territory in the years leading up to the war or the use of that area as a staging ground for an invasion of Israel. I'm no pro-Israel zealot, but let's at least be fair when critiquing their military actions. Characterizing Israel as a pure aggressor is ridiculous. It's as ridiculous as believing the Palestinians are all terrorists.
  
  
  As a work of art, "Miral" is a huge disappointment. As a work of politics, it is also a letdown. But it does work as a simple drama, and there are moments of genuine emotion. Surprisingly, the most interesting passages concern the personal ordeals suffered by Miral's mother, who killed herself when Miral was a young girl. I suspect that Schnabel the artist was drawn more to the mother's story. But Schnabel the (mediocre) politician unfortunately took the dominant role for this project.
  
  
  With all the film's ordinariness, there still is something inspiring about a Jewish filmmaker trying to look at things from a pro-Palestinian perspective. Imagine a movie made in the 1980s by a white filmmaker in South Africa championing the black movement there. Even if the film were mediocre, one would be moved. In that sense there is something special about "Miral."

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  September 2, 2011

  ryguy4738

  4.9/10
  
  I try to watch as many art-house films as I can; not because I'm a hipster and think that such stuff is always better than the mainstream offerings from Hollywood, but because art films are genuinely interesting, and once in a while, along comes a masterpiece... read more. And then again, also once in a while, there comes an art film that nearly ends all art films; one that's either just-plain-bad, too controversial to swallow, or an effort from a director who had better impress his followers...or else. Julian Schnabel, the director of "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly", definitely has some seriously visionary work to follow that film up with when it comes to his newest feature. "Miral", alas, is one of those art films that doesn't nearly fit the definition of a masterpiece. In fact, it's a mess of artistic vision and melodramatic, uneven storytelling. It doesn't work in the slightest, but it is not a bad film.
  
  Bad films are annoying, and while there are PLENTY of annoyances to be found here, "Miral" has some good aspects to it to at least try and overshadow the bad ones. However, in the end, things just feel so out of place and over-stylized that you have to stop and realize that this mediocrity fest IS from the guy who also made the said film, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly". Now THAT was a great movie; while this film is just barely half the one that the earlier film was.
  
  The film chronicles Hind Husseini's establishment of a Jerusalem orphanage, as well as the establishment of Israel. Husseini first discovers over fifty homeless children living on the streets, and she decides to take them in; feeding them, and giving them shelter. In a matter of time, which is like, no time at all, really; the fifty kids have grown to about two thousand, and this is where Husseini decides to build the orphanage for all the children.
  
  The film's titular character, Miral (Freida Pinto) is sent to the orphanage after her mother dies, and her father almost forcefully sends her off, as he cannot take care of her on his own. Miral is unaware of the problems growing in the outside world; but she evolves into a very beautiful, very intelligent, and respectful young woman. She is given a chance, finally, to realize the troubles that surround her when she is assigned to teach at a refugee camp. This is where Miral opens her eyes and sees the violence, the problems; and some of the beauty.
  
  Schnabel decides to show one side of the story being told here; the "other side". I respect his artistic vision, as I do believe he is a true artist, but this is the first film of his that I've seen in which it's sort of a win-win situation. You want beautiful cinematography, taut direction, and good leading performances; you've got 'em. And hey; just because I didn't feel anything whatsoever with this story does not mean that you won't. Obviously Schnabel obviously felt something; maybe you will too.
  
  I wanted to like "Miral". I wanted to be one to praise it in spite of all this critical panning it has received, which surprised me when I first saw the reactions of various critics, but I can't lie; I must speak the truth. I did not like the film. For every good thing, there was also a plethora of bad ones. The drama felt weak, I never really cared, and thus, I felt bored; which is strange, because I expected Schnabel to be the silent, observant type. He exercises some craft here, he gives his film an interesting look. But that just isn't enough. The film won't win much support in terms of its political themes, just as it won't have many admirers as a film overall. And it shows; I now realize why "Miral" has gotten such negative critical reception. I don't necessarily hate it, as some people seriously do, but there's not enough going on here for me to recommend it. Once again; it isn't a bad film. It's just an unfocused, nearly joyless and most certainly bland one.

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  May 29, 2012

  kylegarvey6

  Julian Schnabel's very up-front and ambitious story of the Israel-Palestinian conflict, 2010's MIRAL is exciting and captivating but ultimately disappointing. The directing, I think, is top-notch--almost all Schabel's other features are amazing--but this one is hampered by the sc... read morereenplay: a real maudlin, telling and not showing, overblown effort (maybe because it's autobiographical) by Rula Jebreal.
  
  Right away, I noticed the simmering hysteria in a lot of shouted pieces of exposition masquerading as dialogue. The first scene of the prologue, for instance, is a crowd-pleasing Palestinian-American Christmas party where a lot of political issues are broadcast. A woman named Hind (Miral's future benefactor), seeing the refugees from the Deir Yassin massacre, takes them in and starts her own orphanage.
  
  Later, Nadia (Miral's mother) escapes sexual abuse and starts a tough life as an exotic dancer. Fatima (Miral's mother's benefactor), spurred to action by seeing the maimed in Israel's 1967 war, tries and fails to bomb a movie theatre... which happens to be playing the rape scene from Roman Polanski's REPULSION (on the nose there)... and winds up in jail with Nadia.
  
  It's all very complicated and extensive, but eventually Miral (played by Freida Pinto of SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE fame) grows up in the orphanage. Her naivete to Palestinian issues is shattered by a teaching assignment in 1988, and from then on she's torn in several different directions--loyalty to her father (who, despite putting her into an orphanage when he couldn't handle fatherhood, we're meant to respect); loyalty to Mama Hind (some bland 'education = power' idea); or loyalty to those fighting the First Intifada (purveyors of a lot of clumsy diatribes about the evils of Israeli occupation). I don't know about any of them.

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  November 11, 2011

  Ghw12158

  another winner from artist/director schnabel i first thought it was a doc but i'm was delighted 2 find out it wasn't.

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  July 24, 2011

  mv1334

  "Previews got me very interested in this movie part of it because I love Freida Pinto (she so damn beautiful and she has good potential to be a great actress), never got released in theaters in the US and finally it got released on DVD, I netflixed it right away. Despite a slow s... read moretart, Miral is pretty sad & good movie to look at. Julian Schnabel does an excellent job of showing the background of the Jerusalem War back in the days (showing a lot of what of those people went through). Freida Pinto now in her sophmore movie after her Slumdog Millionaire breakthough, this time getting the nod of a leading role does a fine job here, she's extremely beautiful and again to me, has good potential to be a great actress (she has two big movies coming up: Immortals & Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, so she's been busy lately). This movie is not one of those "WOW, this was amazing" movies but it does offer you history (this is a True Story after all), good message, importance & actually gives you a good assignment for those in school to learn about."

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• Hiam Abbass as Hind Husseini
• Freida Pinto as Miral
• Yasmine Al Masri as Nadia
• Ruba Blal as Fatima
• Alexander Siddig as Jamal
• Omar Metwally as Hani
• Willem Dafoe as Eddie
• Vanessa Redgrave as Bertha Spofford
• Stella Schnabel as Lisa

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• • Miral: Don't mention my father.
• • Hind Husseini: This school is the difference between you and the children in the refugee camp.

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