Ha Kala Ha-Surit (The Syrian Bride)

A Woman in No Man’s Land
Adam Valen Levinson
Freelance Movie Critic
      Sometimes, an international, cross-cultural wedding in the Middle East isn’t easy.
            A Syrian television star falls in love with the picture of a Druze woman he has never met, and they are set to be married. This is the setting for Eran Riklis’ The Syrian Bride, a skillfully crafted, moving film that addresses life’s many borders, and the many hinderances in crossing them.
      Often, the Druze living in the Golan Heights consider themselves Syrian, and refuse Israeli citizenship. For this reason, the passports seen in the film announce “undefined” where a nationality should be. Officially, these are a people without identity. For Mona, the beautiful Druze bride, the marriage will redefine her as a Syrian: once she crosses the Israeli-Syrian border, she will legally never be able to return. But first, she must cross her own emotional borders.
      Riklis tells a story of people doing what is forbidden and determining for themselves what is right. When social pressures theater to destroy a wounded family, only its members’ internal conscience can heal it. The marriage ceremony, to take place at the the border, is marred by logistical troubles, as well as emotional. The Syrian Bride finds her self in a literal and symbolic limbo, with a life-changing choice at hand.
      And her story is not unique. Even though we are constantly reminded of our setting with intermittent shots of the gorgeous Jerusalem landscape, the quinitilingual dialogue suggests that cultural isolation can happen anywhere. But where there is separation, there is fellowship. After nearly a decade, a father and son who have not spoken are reunited by the departure of a shared loved one
      The two main gems of the film are actresses Hiam Abbass (Paradise Now, Munich), who plays the sorrowfully strong Amal, and Clara Khoury who incarnates Mona with a face that holds both life and suffering. The Syrian Bride shows us characters whose mixed emotions resonate in harmony with the real world. Often, the Cinemascope (2.66:1 aspect ratio) image captures the face of the brilliant Khoury, turned back over shoulder, her gaze diametrically opposed to her feet.
      This smart, allegorical picture depicts many intricately interconnected people, symbolizing the many borders that have been crossed. Simultaneously, cultural regulations illustrate the hurdles that have yet to be overcome. In Syria, Israel, or the United States. the struggle between tradition and emotion is never-ending.

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Ha Kala Ha-Surit (The Syrian Bride)
87 Minutes
Release Date (Israel): December 2, 2004; DVD: June 6, 2006