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LEMON TREE Send This Review to a Friend
The personal tragedies that befall individuals caught in the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is dramatized movingly and disturbingly in allegory fashion in “Lemon Tree,” by Israeli director Eran Riklis, who co-wrote the screenplay with Suha Arraf. In this case, the sentiment is more on the Palestinian side, although the human aspects of the story defy simple categorization. Also, the drama involves the personal story of an Israeli wife in tandem with the main situation involving the Palestinian protagonist.
Hiam Abbass plays Salma Zidane, a Palestinian widow who nurtures lemon trees on the border between Israel and the West bank. When the Israeli Defense Minister (Doron Tavory) moves into his new house, the security officials fear the lemon tree grove can make it easy for terrorists to hide in an approach to the minister’s property. Therefore, it is decreed that the trees should be cut down.
Salma is dedicated to preserving her trees, and the film puts us firmly on her side, not only because of the issue and the callousness of those preventing her from even entering the grove, but because Abbas is such a wonderful actress blessed with a great face to which the camera does justice. You may recall her fine performance as the mother in the film “The Visitor.” Salma pursues a court battle that tests Israeli justice.
Meanwhile we see the trajectory of the defense minister’s wife Mira, superbly played by Rona Lipaz-Michael, who is becoming increasingly estranged from her husband and his ways. She develops sympathy for Salma that helps define her own persona and marital situation. This juxtaposition of the two women adds to the force of the story.
Also deepening the drama is Salma’s attraction to the lawyer handling her case, a relationship we suspect will be futile as a result of their disparate situations, with Salma locked into the traditions of Palestinian women who have lost their husbands but are expected to remain loyal to them in widowhood, and the lawyer having his own agenda. An IFC Films release.
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