Eyes of a Thief

It's supposed to be the story of a father's search for his daughter who was adopted when he was taken prisoner in the siege of 2002 during the 2nd Intifada.

Tarek Khodor (Khaled Abol Naga) starts to do this until he travels to Nablus in the West Bank to look for his daughter. This quest is sidelined when he takes on the job of water engineer. While this development somehow enriches the plotline, it nonetheless veers away from the story's chief thrust without being able to resolve the main plot convincingly. The viewer is unsure whether Tarek recognizes Malak as his long lost daughter as events take precedence in his mind. For example, the climactic scene refers to something else while the final scene says as much. The message is muddled as a result. Thus, the question ultimately is who's the thief here? Perhaps, the film's title should be changed to be consistent with its main theme.

Having said these, the actors perform their roles credibly. Special mention goes to Malek Ermileh for a convincing performance as young Malak. A bonus to the viewer are glimpses/great shots of the ancient town of Nablus with its roots in biblical times.

I went to see this film with low expectations and I was very pleasantly surprised. The casting of the main male character was excellent. He was a man of few words but his emotional state was easily understood. The children in the films were brilliant. The story kept me on my toes and I was surprised few times by its twist. The combination of Israeli soldiers harassments and the water theft are themes that were well picked as few of the ways Israel controls lives of Palestinians. The love story was not well developed but that is also symbolic of how Palestinian society has been stunted due to many decades of oppressive occupation. Editing, casting and dialogue were well executed. Overall I strongly recommend this film as a thriller and as a window to a reality that is unknown to many.

I'm sure it's going to be a great film as Najwa Najjar is the director i think she is from Nablus we saw her previous film "pomegranates and myrrh" and for this film she's working with "Abo El Nijja" hes a great actor I'm sure it's going to be a great film Wish to see it in Amman cinemas or Cairo cinemas. As the Palestinians film deserve more than the got i mean a lot of films won Oscar, can , academy and much more awards as they are such a great films but on the Arab TV , channels or cinemas we can't see them. I think you should work more for the support from Arabic channels Best of luck Najwa, and best of luck to all Palestinian directors and actors.

A father's hope to find his daughter who was separated during the Palestinian uprising, based on a true story, set in West Bank..mostly a feel-good movie, nothing exceptional.. interesting fact - Palestinian bride applies henna on her wedding day and the groom rides a horse to venue and guests lead the way, dancing.. (Baraat) .. this was a Palestinian's official entry to academy awards.

In this well written and directed excellent movie, Najwa Najjar avoids to a certain extent the temptation to get involved in the typical political debate between Israel and its foes as the drama centers around a man (starring the famous Egyptian actor Khaled Abu Naga), whose one life target after spending long years in prison becomes nothing other than finding his missing daughter. As the story does not forget to include a sweet and innocent touch of romance, this excellent piece of art which depicts the day by day life under the longest military occupation in modern history, also tackles many issues that Palestinians face as they try to move on with their lives under military occupation, be it the shortage of water supplies that the Israelis control, the need for jobs, or the existence of collaborators among them as well as underground resistance fighters, let alone a fact that many westerners seem to miss, that the Palestinian people are Moslems and Christians !!. Anyone who watches "Eyes of a Thief", will not only learn a thing or two about life in the occupied Palestinian territories, but will definitely find himself enjoying a very good movie.