Amerrika

Amreeka (the Arabic word for America) is a humorous and warm-hearted first feature from Cherien Dabis that follows a Palestinian woman, Muna (Nisreen Faour) and her sixteen-year-old son, Fadi (Melkar Muallem) from the checkpoints of the West Bank to the checkmates of racial animosity in a small town in Illinois near Chicago. Set in 2003 at the start of the Iraq War, Muna leaves Bethlehem because she desires a better life for her son and can no longer put up with overbearing Israeli police, the harangues of her elderly mother, and reminders of her philandering ex-husband. The opening sequence in which Muna is ecstatic about receiving her Green Card in the mail and says tearful goodbyes to her family on her way to America joyously captures the closeness of family and their caring for each other in a lighthearted manner.

Unfortunately in the rest of the film things do not go as well for the young family. They have to deal with numerous incidents of overt and covert racism including bullying at school as they try to adjust to a new home and a new country. Things start off badly when Muna and Fadi are harassed for three hours at the airport by Israeli customs and a tin box filled with cookies and all of their savings are handed over by Fadi to customs officials. Fadi does not say anything to his mother about this (a most unlikely circumstance) and the loss is only discovered after the two arrive at the home of relatives in Illinois. From there, things go steadily south. Muna tries to get a job in her profession in a bank but is rejected by employers who look at all Arabs as potential terrorists.

Ending up working at a burger joint, Muna conceals her employment from her relatives, pretending to work at a bank close to the restaurant, but her shame is apparent. Meanwhile Fadi is tormented by school bullies who call him Osama and her relatives begin to bicker over their increased expenses at the time when the family breadwinner, a physician (Yussef Abu Warda), is losing clients because of his Arab appearance. While people need to be reminded of the hurt of racism and the Arabs contribution to the world, Amreeka offers one contrived subplot after another in which Americans are caricatures of either hate-filled racists or Christ-like saviors like Mr. Novatski (Joseph Ziegler), Fadi's principal (who happens to be Jewish).

What could have been an excellent opportunity to explore the problems of assimilation or the treatment of minorities instead becomes a litany of clichés. There is no mention of 9-11, issues involved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, or the problem of bullying in schools, and the possibility of involving teachers, school officials, or even the neighborhood church in helping the immigrant family to cope are not examined. While Amreeka has moments of charm and likability and the performances are excellent, the exercise quickly becomes a big screen version of "As the World Turns", doomed by an overly simplistic approach in which victimization substitutes for cooperation in finding solutions.

"Amreeka" has, I would say, all the freshness and the weaknesses an indie movie comes with. Being about a family of Palestinian immigrants struggling to find their way in America and facing all kind of anti-Muslim and anti-Arab stereotypes, this movie cannot escape its own stereotypes. It is a movie that looks schematic in many of its moments. Not in all moments, let's be clear on this point. It is a movie breathing of sincerity and it has a certain pathos. However, sometimes it seems that it gathers all the bad guys on one side and the good guys on the other (you can guess who are the bad guys, and who are the good ones). And after all these, the end seems idyllic; they want to send the good message so to speak, only I'm wandering whether it happens like that also in real life.

Well, one can say that this movie is dealing with a reality which is by itself schematic. This is true: bigotry of any kind is always schematic (to name the least of its sins). The problem is that a movie has an artistic reality of its own, and this artistic reality must be convincing, regardless how schematic the depicted reality could be.

The great asset of this movie is the lead actress, Nisreen Faour. She creates an unforgettable personage, with passion, with honesty, with conviction and stamina. And she is so amazing that the whole movie is contaminated by her enthusiasm and good will.

Let me mention here also Hiam Abbass , a very good actress that I have also seen in many other movies (The Visitor, Munich, Paradise Now, The Syrian Bride).

I seldom comment on movies here but felt compelled to comment on this one. I say "not what you might expect" because I think a lot of people's reactions to this film are going to be heavily influenced by preconceptions about what this film is supposed to be "about." I can't blame them; if I heard that this was "a film about an Arab family's struggles after immigrating the USA after September 11th," I'd probably groan because I'd have certain expectations too. But this is not a "message" film, and if you go into it looking for messages, you're going to miss the point. Rather than political, this film is personal. You could call it simple, but it's not simplistic. Far from it; it refuses to reduce the subtlety and nuance of life to overt messages. I think that an honest, objective viewing of this movie will reveal that, the "stereotypes" and "simplifications" that some reviewers are seeing, were brought in by the reviewers themselves. This is not a perfect film, but it has a lot more depth, beauty and truth than most family dramas, and certainly more than the didactic work one might expect.

Back in the late 1980's early 1990's(especially during Operation Desert Scam),there was a plague of anti Arab sentiment that enveloped the United States for a good part of the decade. Things did not fare any better in the wake of September 11th,2001,and only managed to get worse with George W.Bush attacking Iraq. Hollywood,predictably got on that vile band wagon & produced some pretty vile films,depicting all Arab & Arab/Americans as ruthless terrorists. Despite the fact that most of these attitudes still exist,Canada produced a wonderful film about a Palestinian woman & her son coming to America for a better life. This film is 'Amreeka' (the Arabic word for America). Cherien Dabis writes & directs,from her own original screenplay,a tale of finding home. Muna Farah is a single mother,dealing with the daily grind of living in occupied Palestine (spot checks at the border are a regular way of life,as well as the wall separating the Gaza strip from Isreal,where motorists have to contend with driving out of their way, just to get to work,etc.). With the money she has been saving for some time,Muna & her teen-aged son,Fadi,make it to America,where they live with her sister,Raghda & her family. Sounds like an idyllic picture,doesn't it? Guess again. Muna & Fadi have to deal with the growing racism against Arabs. Does she manage to rise above it all & make America her home? That's for you to find out. Nisreen Faour shines as Muna,a woman who has been kicked around for far too long. Melkar Muallem earns kudos as her son,Fadi. Hiam Abbass is her sister, Raghda (a winning performance). The rest of the cast turns in fine performances,as well. This is quality film making that deserves to be experienced,even if you're not Arab. Spoken in Arabic with English subtitles,and English. Rated PG-13 by the MPAA for some salty language,some drug related material & some mild violence

I discovered Amreeka thanks to looking at past Independent Spirit Award winners and nominees. This American-Canadian-Kuwaiti joint venture was nominated for Best Film. It's a terrifically personal look at a single woman's journey from Palestine to small town rural America. She wants a better life for her teenage son and takes the opportunity to immigrate to the United States. Her son is very excited, knowing full well what great opportunities they can have in the U.S. Unfortunately this is happening just after the United States launched Operation Iraqi Freedom to liberate Iraq from the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. The film does not delve into the political and stays personal for the most part, dealing with the idiocy of prejudiced morons at the time, intolerant of Arabs as well as the struggles this woman and her son have. Fortunately the film also shows Americans without ignorance who accept Arab immigrants as neighbors and fellow human beings who deserve just as much respect as the next person. I was impressed from the get-go and would recommend this to all.

7.9 / 10 stars

--Zoooma, a Kat Pirate Screener