Divine Intervention movie storyline. Santa Claus tries to outrun a gang of knife-wielding youth. It’s one of several vignettes of Palestinian life in Israel – in a neighborhood in Nazareth and at Al-Ram checkpoint in East Jerusalem. Most of the stories are droll, some absurd, one is mythic and fanciful; few words are spoken.
A man who goes through his mail methodically each morning has a heart attack. His son visits him in hospital. The son regularly meets a woman at Al-Ram; they sit in a car, hands caressing. Once, she defies Israeli guards at the checkpoint; later, Ninja-like, she takes on soldiers at a target range. A red balloon floats free overhead. Neighbors toss garbage over walls. Life goes on until it doesn’t.
Divine Intervention (Arabic: يد إلهية) is a 2002 film by Palestinian director Elia Suleiman, which may be described as a surreal black comedy. The film consists largely of a series of brief interconnected sketches, but for the most part records a day in the life of a Palestinian living in Nazareth, whose girlfriend lives several checkpoints away in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
One lyrical section features a beautiful sunglasses-clad Palestinian woman (played by Manal Khader) whose passing by not only distracts all eyes, but whose gaze causes Israeli military checkpoint towers to crumble. The director features prominently as the film’s silent, expressionless protagonist in a performance that has been compared to the work of Buster Keaton, Jim Jarmusch and Jacques Tati. The film is noted for its minimal use of dialogue, its slow pace and repetition in behavior by its characters.
Divine Intervention (2002)
Directed by: Elia Suleiman
Starring: Elia Suleiman, Emma Boltanski, Amer Daher, Jamel Daher, Nayef Fahoum Daher, Read Masarweh, Bassem Loulou, Salwa Nakkara, Naaman Jarjoura, Rama Nashashibi
Screenplay by: Elia Suleiman
Production Design by: Miguel Markin, Denis Renault
Cinematography by: Marc-André Batigne
Film Editing by: Véronique Lange
Costume Design by: Eve-Marie Arnault
Art Direction by: Miguel Markin, Denis Renault
Special Effects: Manfred Büttner
Distributed by: Avatar Films
Release Date: May 19, 2002
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