Three childhood friends plan a terrorist action in Hany Abu-Assad’s Oscar-nominated OMAR
OMAR (Hany Abu-Assad, 2013)
Lincoln Plaza Cinema, 1886 Broadway at 63rd St., 212-757-2280
Angelika Film Center, 18 West Houston St. at Mercer St., 212-995-2570
Opens Friday, February 21
www.adoptfilms.com
Nazareth-born Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad explores friendship, trust, and young love in occupied Palestine in the taut thriller Omar, the second of his films to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, following 2005’s Paradise Now. Lee Strasberg Institute graduate Adam Bakri makes an impactful film debut as the title character, a serious young man who works in a pita-making shop and climbs over the separation wall every day to meet with his childhood friends Tarek (Eyad Hourani) and Amjad (Samer Bisharat), who are planning on taking action as freedom fighters. Omar also secretly sees Tarek’s sister, Nadja (Leem Lubany), but they are worried about what Tarek might do if he finds out about their burgeoning romance. Shortly after the three friends assassinate an Israeli soldier, Omar is captured and tortured as Agent Rami (Waleed F. Zuaiter) tries to get him to divulge the name of the shooter. But Omar refuses to collaborate until Rami gives him no choice, and even then he thinks he can beat the system. Winner of the Special Jury Prize at the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes, Omar is a tense, powerful tale that doesn’t overplay the political battle between Israel and Palestine (although it’s rather unkind to the Israeli police), instead concentrating on how the seemingly impossible situation affects four young people, all portrayed by first-time actors who show much promise, particularly Bakri, who has a compelling physical presence, and sixteen-year-old Lubany, who has a tender face and mesmerizing eyes. Zuaiter, a Palestinian American who has appeared in numerous English-language films and stage productions and is one of Omar’s producers, plays Agent Rami with a mysterious calm reminiscent of Mandy Patinkin’s Saul Berenson on Homeland, a show in which Zuaiter played terrorist Afsai Hamid in one episode. Regardless of where you stand on the Israel-Palestine conflict in the West Bank, it’s difficult not to get caught up in Abu-Assad’s intricate story.