Free Zone (2005)

Director:

Amos Gitai

Writers:

Amos Gitai (writer)
Marie-Jose Sanselme (writer)

Release Date:

7 April 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

Two women embark on a road trip after they are brought together by circumstance. Rebecca (Portman) flees her hotel after a fight with her mother-in-law (Maura) and hails a taxi driven by Hanna (Lazlo).

Plot Keywords:

Jordan | Breakup | Fire | Song | Greenhouse

Awards:

1 win & 5 nominations

Cast

Natalie Portman	...	Rebecca
Hana Laszlo	...	Hanna Ben Moshe (as Hanna Laszlo)
Hiam Abbass	...	Leila
Carmen Maura	...	Mrs. Breitberg
Makram Khoury	...	Samir aka "The American"
Aki Avni	...	Julio
Uri Klauzner	...	Moshe Ben Moshe
Liron Levo	...	Border Security
Tomer Russo	...	Border Security
Adnan Tarabshi	...	Petrol Station Owner
Shredi Jabarin	...	Walid (as Shredy Gabarin)
Kobi Lieber	...	Radio Narrator (voice)

Also Known As:

Free Zone (France)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

Israel | Belgium | France | Spain

Language:

English | Hebrew | Arabic | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR | Stereo

Certification:

Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Brazil:12 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Free Zone, Jordan

Company:

Agat Films & Cie

Trivia:

First Israeli movie shot in Jordan.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When the vehicle is just approaching the border crossing near the end of the film (1:23:00 on the DVD) we can see the silhouette of someone wearing a baseball cap moving about in the back of the vehicle.

Quotes:

Hanna: I speak Arabic, I speak English, what language are you speaking ?

Soundtrack:

Had Gadia

a great parabol

Unlike some other people, I did find this movie to be a great one. Amos Gitaï show us the middle east complexity through three beautiful characters, one Israelian, one Palestinian and one American with Jewish extracts. Those three women are supposed to represent three "forces" who can play a part in the situation over there : Israel, Palestine and the "international community" represented by Natalie Portman's character Rebecca. Rebecca appears to be just a witness to what is happening. Although she tries to get involved and to ease the conflict down her efforts remain without effect. The movie shows as well that Israelians and Palestinians could talk to each other instead of getting at war. They have quite the same problems, they live on the same land, they are quite the same people, they have quite the same cultural background. but some have to forget about their fear and parano while the others need to stop fanatism growing within their ranks. Amos Gitaï wants to show us as well that Israelians should accept to talk to moderate Palestinians. It's the only way to move towards a better tomorrow otherwise fanatics will be their only opponents and there will be no possible dialogue. Some people here have not understood a thing in the movie. I read two main wrong critics. One was about the language used in the movie. It seemed disturbing for some people that the movie is not only in English. But truth is not everybody in the world speaks English ! In Israel, the official language is Hebrew. Palestinians speak Arabic. So it's normal that those three languages (with English) are used and spoken in the movie. Otherwise it would be just sci-fi or American fantasm ! The other thing is about Rebecca's crying at the beginning of the movie. She does not cry about her loss. She and we don't give a damn about this loss. As a near to be witness of the situation in the Middle East, she cries about that, about her uselessness, about the vicious circle which make good people killing each others. That's why as well she leaves running at the end of the movie because she can't help Israel and Palestine to get along. She can't understand their fighting. Thank you Mister Amos Gitaï.