• Reviews

• All
• Music
• DVDs
• Live
• Cinema
• TV
• Books
• Comic Books
• Video Games

Feb 19, 2014 By Zach Hollwedel Web Exclusive

Omar (Adam Bakri) spends his days as any young man might: working, hanging out with friends, and sneaking off to woo a potential girlfriend, Nadia (Leem Lubany). However, to get to Nadia’s house, Omar must scale the tall wall which bisects occupied Palestine, an act that can have severe ramifications if the Israeli soldiers patrolling it catch him. Fed up with the military oppression which governs their lives, Omar and his childhood friends, Amjad (Samer Bisharat) and Tarek (Eyad Hourani) become freedom fighters. After their attack on a military compound leaves one Israeli soldier dead, Omar is arrested and thrown in jail. His life – and his future with Nadia – soon rests on his willingness to betray his friends and deliver Tarek – the attack’s mastermind – to the police.

Omar begins with the titular character’s ascent over the bisecting wall – a climb which nearly ends in his shooting – instantly heightening the circumstances under which he lives. Despite that, his daily worries and desires make him universally relatable. By chasing a girl and wisecracking with the guys, Omar is an intrinsically familiar and likeable character. As such, the viewer is on his side during his first foray into freedom fighting – an action which could be considered terrorism, depending on who is asked. The day-to-day concerns of youth might inherently seem at odds with such planned attacks, and with a lesser director, the film might have crumbled under its own diametric oppositions. However, Hany Abu-Assad does a masterful job maintaining tonal consistency, imparting equal weight and emotional impact to both Omar’s courtship of Nadia and the brutal torture scenes wherein Omar is interrogated in prison.

Omar transcends any singular genre, and it does so with deft and heart. A love triangle threatens to split Omar, Amjad, and Nadia apart from the get-go, imbuing the film with a sense of normalcy countless viewers can appreciate. The picayune details of who likes who never disappear, no matter how deeply in trouble Omar and his friends become – in fact, the amorous inclinations inform the rest of the story. Beautifully shot, complicated, smart, and undeniably intense, Omar is unique and well-deserving of its place as the Palestinian nominee for this year’s Best Foreign Language Film.

adoptfilms.net/omar

Author rating: 7/10