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Sixty-year-old fisherman Issa, played by Salim Daw, right, is secretly in love with Siham, played by Hiam Abbass, a woman who works at the market with her daughter Leila.Courtesy of Vortex Media
Gaza Mon Amour
Written and directed by Arab Nasser and Tarzan Nasser
Starring Hiam Abbass and Salim Daw
Classification N/A; 97 minutes
Available digitally on-demand starting Nov. 9
Critic’s Pick
With one foot in lighthearted romantic comedy and another in also-light political commentary, Gaza Mon Amour never takes a wrong step, exactly, but also feels ambivalent about its final destination. And if that tortured metaphor doesn’t work for you, then the essence of the film, directed by twin brothers Tarzan and Arab Nasser, might feel just as wobbly. But its intentions are sound.
Like the brothers’ first film, 2015′s Degrade, their native Gaza plays home to a genre riff, this time a late-life romance. Lonely fisherman Issa (Salim Daw, from Netflix’s Fauda) and tailor Siham (Hiam Abbass, known to fans of HBO’s Succession) attempt, and sometimes fail, to connect. The film works best when it focuses on the easy charms of its two leads, the daily life of Occupation providing an unusual but poignant backdrop. Yet there is also a sense that the Nassers are toning down their political messaging in order to feed the rom-com-ish narrative, when there’s likely room for both elements to thrive.
In the interest of consistency across all critics’ reviews, The Globe has eliminated its star-rating system in film and theatre to align with coverage of music, books, visual arts and dance. Instead, works of excellence will be noted with a Critic’s Pick designation across all coverage.