Dumbfoundingly similar in its finale to the recent Oscar-nominated Palestinian film, Omar, the Israeli Bethlehem mines equivalent emotional turf. Devoid of explanatory context, Bethlehem, via credible and interesting characters, lays out a sad premise: both sides are inhumane, lying and vengeful to a mortal fault. As in Omar, what proceeds as a suspenseful action yarn contains layers of penetrating observation that may lie beneath the surface, but produce a nod of painful recognition.
What keeps Bethlehem from sinking to a low of foregone melodrama is its ability to keep us glued to its character’s plight as a real struggle of compelling, conflicting forces. Sanfur (Shadi Mar’i), still a teenager, lives in the shadow of his older brother Ibrahim (Hisha, Sulman) a leader in the militant al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. Sanfur chooses to protect his father at the expense of any personal cost. His dealings with Shin Bet secret service agent Razi (Tsahi Omari) have a father-son tone of their own. Razi himself bucks his superiors while perhaps getting too emotionally involved with Sanfur.
Here again, as in Omar, a largely nonprofessional cast give sharply defined performances. First-time director Yuval Adler, an Israeli, collaborates with Palestinian screenwriter Ali Waked in giving a finely wrought glimpse into the familial and tribal tensions surrounding the most dastardly act: collaboration with the enemy. Sanfur may feel he had no choice in crossing that highly dangerous line but Bethlehem chooses to explore his decision’s dangerous repercussions rather than give us even a flashback into the turmoil that must have gone into making the decision. We know he felt there was no other choice but we don’t get to feel what must have been an incredibly harrowing process.
Although the film portrays the tensions between al-Aqsa , Hamas, and The Palestinain Authority, it’s scattershot style makes no bones about doing so in an overtly blame free manner. Hatred and revenge transcend ideology, and ultimately, blur distinctions between not only the warring factions on the Palestinian side, but also between their collective lot and Israeli itself. In a conflict with no solution in sight, a weary cynicism ends up beating righteousness into a pulp.