Broken Wings – rated – SIMMERING

(Sydney Film Festival, 2003)

This is a well-executed family drama from Israel.  It is a bit like a film that Ken Loach or Mike Leigh or Robert Guidigian might make – if a bit softer on the Socialist angle, though there is some political comment in a classroom scene about the economic  plan for the county. There are nice performances all round and a  great sense of place.  There’s hardly a reference to the Palestinian situation, but there is a sense of oppression which suffuses the atmosphere of the film.  Nice film making on a small scale.