Lemon Tree

Dir: Eran Riklis

2008

*****

Director Eran Riklis had covered personal relationships between Arabs and Middle Eastern Jews in his previous films The Syrian Bride and Cup Final, achieving widespread success in Israel as well as with international audiences. It’s safe to say expectations for his next film were high but when dealing with a story like Lemon Tree, he was always going to upset someone. I think it is an extraordinary film but even though Riklis says its not about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it clearly is and he shouldn’t shy away from the fact. That said, the end message is universal. The story begins when the Israeli Defense Minister Israel Navon (Doron Tavory) moves to a house on the border between Israel and the West Bank, with the building sitting on the Israeli side just next to the dividing line. The Israeli Secret Service views the neighboring lemon grove of Salma Zidane (Hiam Abbass), a Palestinian widow whose family has cared for the area for generations, as a threat to the minister and his wife. The security forces soon set up a guard post and a fence around the grove. They then obtain an order to uproot the lemon trees. Salma feels isolated given that her son has moved to Washington, D.C. and her daughters are now married. The local village elder Abu Kamal (Makram Khoury) advises her to give in, but Salma decides to work with the young lawyer Ziad Daud (Ali Suliman). They take their case all the way to the Supreme Court. All the while Mira Navon (Rona Lipaz-Michael), the minister's wife, sympathizes with Salma as she watches her from over the fence. The court case receives notable media attention, and Mira gives a news interview that her husband regrets. Mira believes that the Israeli military overreacted, and she also shares Salma's sense of personal loneliness. Although they never speak, a complex human bond develops between the two women. As the Palestinian cause is dismissed, Mira decides to leave her husband and a stark concrete wall is built between Salma's land and the Defense Minister's house. A final camera shot reveals the lemon trees have all been pruned. It’s about as devastating a final moment of a film can be. Riklis has said that he designed the film to be essentially apolitical, focusing on character development rather than exploring the issues of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. He has said that he created a 'fairy tale quality' to the film in which the audience can sympathize with all of the people featured in it. He stated that "I wanted to populate this film with a lot of faces and give each character their own moment of grace, even when, on the surface, it's one of the 'bad guys,' so to speak.. ... This film does address the ugly side of occupation perhaps, yet no blood is spilled.” A fictional representation of the Israeli West Bank barrier punctuates the film throughout. While he has a point, the uprooting of the lemon trees feels almost as bad as a death. Your opinion of the film really depends upon your views but I think the viewer should reflect upon the fact that Riklis is Israeli himself. Those who criticised the film the loudest upon its release also claimed the film was too "fem-centric", as well as anti-Israeli and pro-Palestinian. I think that speaks volumes. The truth is, the plot was based on a real life incident. Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz moved to the border within Israel and the occupied territories and security forces began cutting down the lemon trees beside his house, arguing that it could be used by terrorists as a hiding place. The Palestinian family who owned the trees sued the minister and took the case all the way to the Israeli Supreme Court. They lost, and their trees had to be cut down. Riklis watched a news report about the case online before developing the story further in a fictional setting. It really does make all criticism and accusations of it being anti-Israeli quite absurd, it is essentially a true story. Riklis forges into areas other Israeli filmmakers won't venture and I’m glad he does. Salma and Mira are fictional characters but there are thousands of Salmas and Miras in the middle east, this film is for them. Unsurprisingly, the film did well in Palestine but not so well in Israel. The conflict will go on for a long time, hopefully the Salmas and the Miras will one day be able to communicate and live together, and hopefully there will be some lemons left for them both to enjoy. One day this will be a film people watch in history lessons and they will struggle to understand how the world can be this way, that day can’t come soon enough. Thankfully we have artists and film makers like Riklis who are bold enough to communicate with both sides at risk to himself and his career.