HYAM - THE BROKEN OLIVE

Iran, 2004, 100 minutes, Colour.
Directed by Mohammed Dormanesh.

Hyam is a story about Palestine. It is set at the beginning of the Israeli siege of the town and the camps of Jenin.

The initial focus is on a wedding ceremony and is presented in all its happy detail. The young couple are about to leave for England where the husband has citizenship. In their drive along the roads in Palestine in a taxi, they are stopped at a roadblock and are treated with great suspicion. While the wife is let go, the husband is interned for the night and interrogated. The Israeli officer admits that it was a mistake, gives him back his mobile phone which, in fact, contains a tracking device. The Israeli politician wants to track down the wife and capture her, mistaking her for her aunt, a noted terrorist.

As the siege of Jenin begins, the politician dominates the military commander. The politician wants the young woman at any cost. This strategy means that as the troops enter Jenin, they are the victims of the Palestinian uprising. Ultimately, many people are killed and the Palestinians make a last stand. Decisions have to be made and the young man and woman are urged to flee to England and there is an impassioned patriotic speech at the end of the film.

The film could be seen as Palestinian propaganda but in the same way as a Jewish story about the Palestinians could be seen as Israeli propaganda. There is a great deal of passion, of course, in the presentation of the Palestinian situation and indeed it seems a time and a place of terrible suffering and oppression and humiliating treatment by Israeli guards and police as well as by military attack on land by tanks as well as by air and helicopter fire.

The making of the film is straightforward. However, at the beginning of the 21st century there are very few films about the Palestinians and it is necessary for world audience to see stories from both sides of the conflict.

1. The impact of the film? The charge of its being Palestinian propaganda? The other consideration of its being a Palestinian morale booster? Response in Arab audiences? In world-wide audiences? Understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian? conflict?

2. The atmosphere of Palestine, especially the city and camp of Jenin? The authentic material incorporated into the film, television footage, the battle sequences within the town and the attack on it by the Israelis?

3. The opening, the traditions and joy of the wedding, the prolonged sequence, the interlude of the gift which might have been a bomb, the fireworks - and the irony of the Israeli soldier thinking that it was some kind of protest or attack?

4. Hyam and her background, work with the orphans, her family, her brother? Hesan and his return from Britain? Their plans? The personality of each, the ideal Palestinian couple?

5. The ride with the taxi driver, his nonchalant air, the puncture, their being stopped as the tanks went by, under suspicion? The roadside humiliations? The couple and their hiding behind the tree? The mole painted on Hyam's face - and the border looking at her identification and photo? Their being stopped by the guards, the treatment by the guards, hostility, humiliation, attack? The verbal exchanges? The searches? Their letting Hyam go? Their taking Hassan to prison?

6. Hassan and his protest at his being a foreign citizen, his passport? His being put in the cell? The interview with the spy chief? The pleasing manner, the seeming agreeableness, giving him back his mobile phone - and the irony that a tracking device was placed within it, that it was used so often by the Israelis?

7. His return to Jenin, the attack on the city, his getting in? His wanting to see his wife? His linking up with his brother, with the militants? The dangers in the streets? Hyam and the sending off of the orphans, her being seen with the orphans and playing with them, their gift for her marriage? Her remaining behind with the little girl who was devoted to her? Trying to carry her to safety during the bombardments?

8. The Israeli civilian and his control, his domination of the military leader, the quest for finding the spy? The photos and identifying her with Hyam? Pinpointing where the tracking device was? The attack, the fierce uprising against the Israelis, the tanks, the bombs, the mortars, the bombs from the helicopters? The Israeli soldiers' deaths, the Palestinians' deaths? The military commander, thinking it a disaster? The clash with the chief? Their tense relationship, reporting back to Jerusalem? Continuing the mission?

9. The families and their involvement in the Resistance, shootings in the streets, making the nail bombs, even the children? The houses with the ammunition? The tactics? The use of mobile phones to communicate positions and orders? The crippled man lying on the roof and shooting, his death? People being wounded, the hospital? The homes?

10. Hyam and Hassan and their driving away, Hyam refusing to go, Hassan and his desperation and not understanding his wife? Her return, his return?

11. The detailed fighting sequences, creating the atmosphere that was taking place in the Palestinian territories? The superior might of the Israelis, the weaponry of the Palestinians?

12. The decision that Hyam and Hassan should leave, their escaping through the tunnel, driving away? The final rousing speech in favour of the Palestinian cause?