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Rating: Mona is a beautiful Druze girl. She was born and raised in the Golan Heights, which since 1967 has been occupied by Israel and claimed by Syria. For this reason, her identity card has no nationality, only the term 'stateless'. Mona is engaged. Her future husband is a famous actor from Damascus, Syria. However, the two have not yet met in person precisely because of the situation between the two countries. This is how it works among the Druze. Arranged marriages still exist. Mona is resigned to this: she grew up in that culture, and for her, it is normal. What is not normal, however, is the fact that 'given her stateless status' once she crosses the Israeli-Syrian border, she will never be able to return to her family. The political situation is very tense and the borders are closed, so her choice will be final. «The Syrian Bride» is not just a film about a difficult marriage.
It is a film of protest, showing us the living conditions of the Druze of the Golan, their at times strongly conservative mentality, the archaic hierarchies, and the conflicts within the same community, divided between pro-Israelis and pro-Syrians. Mona's father is strongly pro-Syrian, already watched by the mishtarah (Israeli police) as a suspected subversive, constantly occupied with not opposing the village elders and avoiding the gossip of the people. For this reason, he has disowned his son Hattem, who married a Russian woman (Druze are forbidden to marry people who are not of their religion and ethnicity). Hamal, Mona's sister, is not a young woman anymore: her aspirations in youth were many, but one by one, she saw them fade away precisely because of her people's culture. She would have liked to do what any Western woman (including Israeli women) considers normal. For Hamal, no: she was not allowed to go to the University of Haifa (symbolic is her husband's phrase: «Do you want people to think I'm not a man, that I can't stand up to my wife?»), she was not able to marry the man she loved nor lead the life she wanted.
In "The Syrian Bride", no one looks particularly good. The Druze are shown to us as a closed and backward population, the Syrian and Israeli governments as obtuse and absolutely unwilling to find a middle ground, even for something as simple as a bride's expatriation. The ground hostess who 'welcomes' Mona's brother at the Tel Aviv airport, returned to Israel for the wedding, is suspicious simply because the man is not of Jewish ethnicity. The head of the mishtarah, with his 'tough guy' stance, becomes obtuse and unfair towards Mona and her father, trying to prevent the latter from attending the girl's farewell. The Syrian soldiers are a group of lazybones, while the Israeli ones are too zealous and rigid. This is the portrait that director Eran Riklis (Israeli) and screenwriter Suha Arra (Palestinian) present of the Middle East. They don't blame anyone: this is the world. The Israeli photographer who is supposed to cover Mona's wedding has no idea that the girl, once she crosses the border, will never see her family again, and when informed of this, he's taken by surprise. The Syrian people find it inconceivable to marry a girl known only through photos, while the young Druze consider it completely normal (even if painful) to conform to some tribal laws.
This film, therefore, doesn't judge ordinary people. It criticizes the stupidity of governments, both Western (Israeli) and Eastern (Syrian). A bitter film about power, about physical, mental, and emotional boundaries. A glimpse into the everyday life of three peoples we know too little and in a totally distorted manner, a true and unembellished view of the political and cultural situation in the Middle East. The actors, all entirely unknown in Italy, are truly talented. Clara Khoury, in the role of Mona, has few lines. She is the protagonist of the film but is also the one who speaks the least. Because everything is decided for her 'by the elders', but even with speaking, Khoury manages to convey the emotions, fears, and hopes of a young woman about to take a leap into the unknown. Hiam Abbass, in the role of Hamal, with her intense and composed performance at the same time, brings to life the frustration, hopes, and desire for revenge of a woman who, despite having a strong character, has always had to bow her head, but doesn't want such a future for her daughters.
Performed in several languages (Hebrew, Arabic, English, French, Russian), the film was not dubbed in the Italian edition: a wise choice because it shows us the Babel that is the whole area of the uncertain Israeli borders. An interesting fact: given the political situation, Riklis, Arra, and the rest of the crew had to rebuild the border (complete with the Syrian flag and national anthem) in an internal area of Israel, in order to shoot the border scenes. Despite the slow pace, the film does not bore, indeed: it surprises the Western viewer. Alberto Castellano of 'Il Mattino' calls it «A simple but effective story, light yet deep, at times amusing but contentious. (?) An act of love for freedom».
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