Average Rating: 7.1/10
Reviews Counted: 66
Fresh: 61 | Rotten: 5
A positive and personal Israeli film that offers an understated and thought-provoking vision of the West Bank troubles.
Average Rating: 7.2/10
Critic Reviews: 15
Fresh: 14 | Rotten: 1
A positive and personal Israeli film that offers an understated and thought-provoking vision of the West Bank troubles.
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Average Rating: 3.7/5
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Widow and empty nester Salma Zidane lives on the Palestinian West Bank, in a little house flanked by lemon trees planted by her great grand parents. Unfortunately, when the Israeli minister of defense builds a house adjacent to her own, her lemon trees are deemed a security risk. Salma hires a lawyer to prevent the powerful man from having her ancestral trees removed, but the odds are stacked against her, and to make matters worse, she begins to fall in love with her lawyer. Things seem bleak,
Unrated, 1 hr. 46 min.
Apr 17, 2009 Wide
Nov 3, 2009
$0.5M
IFC
All Critics (67) | Top Critics (16) | Fresh (62) | Rotten (5) | DVD (1)
Eran Riklis, who directed and co-wrote with Suha Arraf (they also collaborated on The Syrian Bride), has made a compelling movie that takes its strength from the ground-level picture it gives of the human aspect of the problems in that part of the world.
The two Israelis who take her side are female, which underscores the film's message: a little less machismo might save a lot more than trees.
This is a film about a problem, not a solution, and it's effectively upsetting.
The story, based on a real incident, may be simplistic, but that's the nature of fables. The direction is sure-handed, and the acting is good, particularly by the very appealing Abbass.
Lemon Tree offers the bittersweet satisfaction of understanding a thorny situation a bit better. In a uniformly strong cast, Hiam Abbass is outstanding as the proud, lovely Salma.
A sober-hearted take on the righteous blowback from whittled-away souls, and a movie that invariably rights itself with each return to the beautifully steely gaze of Abbass.
A touching tale of forbidden fruit in the Middle East.
If only every Arab-Israeli conflict could be resolved simply by resorting to Biblical wisdom rather than with bullets and bombs!
En general no me gusta decir que una película es "necesaria" (un facilismo rimbombante en el que suelen caer muchos críticos), pero en este caso debo hacer una excepción.
Abbass's starkly moving performance and the film's closing shots make this metaphor for the unsolvable unforgettable.
The vivid cinematography gives the viewer glimpses of scenic locations throughout Israel. This is a quiet and somber journey that allows lots of time for thought and reflection on the current state of affairs in the Middle East.
While the entire cast is very good, Abbass must carry most of the film, with little dialogue. Her subtly expressive face is a script unto itself, conveying everything from formal, traditional modesty to angry defiance.
Has a distinct point of view on the Israeli-Palestinian impasse, but expresses it with considerable finesse as well as emotional power.
The sensuousness of Lemon Tree is its glory.
Writer-director Eran Riklis handles these questions subtly and thoughtfully, tying the little struggle over the trees to larger issues without turning "Lemon Tree" into a parable.
It's worth seeing Lemon Tree simply for the performance of Hiam Abbass, who is magnificent in her dignity and determination.
The Lemon Tree has a big plot hole that's overcome by both Abbass' efforts and the story's tone: dramatic but frustrated and slyly deadpan at heart.
Being dry is not necessarily a bad thing for a movie, at least when that dryness includes humor. But Lemon Tree is too dour and too humorless for its own good.
The pungence of Lemon Tree is in the surreal moments that capture the pervasive unease in Gaza, and in the quiet strength of Abbass' performance.
It's not fantastic, but if you like Abbass in The Visitor, she's even better here.
A story of pride and principal. A Palestinian woman's lemons come into harms way when an Israeli politician moves in next door. It's almost like one of those stories where neighbors go mental at the size of each others trees. The only difference being, here there are far more complex and interesting political issues at
July 22, 2009Super Reviewer
A most infuriating film, pitting a Palestinian widow against the security forces of the Israeli defense minister whose family has moved in next door. Not only does the widow, Salma Zidane (Hiam Abbass), have to contend with Israeli bureaucracy and the Israeli justice system that is arrayed against her, but she must
October 2, 2009Super Reviewer
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