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Private (2004)

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Reviews Counted:30

Fresh:24

Rotten:6

Average Rating:6.6/10

Consensus: Italian director Saverio Costanzo delivers a gritty and intimate drama about how the Israeli-Palestinian conflict affects a Palestinian family and the Israeli soldiers occupying their home.

Runtime: 90 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Nov 18, 2005 Limited

Synopsis: Inspired by real events, documentary filmmaker Saverio Costanzo's feature debut is a minimalist psychological drama about a Palestinian family of seven suddenly confronted with a volatile situation... Inspired by real events, documentary filmmaker Saverio Costanzo's feature debut is a minimalist psychological drama about a Palestinian family of seven suddenly confronted with a volatile situation in their home that in many ways reflects the larger ongoing conflict between Palestine and Israel. Mohammad, his wife and their five children live in a large, isolated house located halfway between a Palestinian village and an Israeli settlement. The house, in the crossfire of the two sides, is a strategic lookout point that the Israeli army decides to seize, confining the family to a few downstairs rooms in daytime and a single room at night. Mohammad refuses to leave his home and, reinforced by his principles against violence, decides to find a way to keep his family together in the house until the Israeli soldiers move on. Living in a state of constant confrontation and fear fragments the family's relationships - every member reacts in different ways to the soldier's presence in the house and to the father's authority. Mohammad chooses to stay and defend his home; his wife wants to leave the house in order to keep her children out of danger; their eldest daughter sneaks upstairs to spy on the Israelis; the youngest son amuses himself by imagining unique personalities for each soldier; their teenage son fantasizes about liberating his family by staging a surprise attack. Tensions between the family members and the soldiers nearly reach the breaking point just as the troops are ordered to move to a new post. The family's relief is short-lived, however, as a new group of soldiers moves into the house and the cycle of disruption and occupation continues. Winner of a Golden Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival, PRIVATE is convincingly shot in a documentary style with a hand-held camera and a quick pace. Director Costanzo has created a unique occasion for both Israeli and Palestinian actors to work together, and being an outsider himself, he has worked to maintain a neutral standpoint while dramatizing the conflict. [More]

Starring: Muhamad Bakri

Starring: Muhamad Bakri

Director: Saverio Costanzo

Director: Saverio Costanzo

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Jun 6, 2006

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Reviews for Private

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
04/03/09
Derek Elley
Derek Elley
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Time Out

A sketchy but compelling Italian movie about Middle East power struggles.

Full Review Source: Seattle Times | comment Comment
04/07/06
John Hartl
John Hartl
Seattle Times

... as politically defiant a metaphor for Israeli-Palestinian relations in the occupied territories as you'll ever see on screen.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
04/06/06
Sean Axmaker
Sean Axmaker
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

The script is occasionally heavy-handed in laying out motivation and meaning, but excellent performances from the Israeli-Palestinian cast and a chilling moral elevate this to more than 'issue film' status.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
04/01/06
Empire Magazine

Costanzo's debut feature film is potent stuff.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
03/18/06
Marjorie Baumgarten
Marjorie Baumgarten
Austin Chronicle

The film's paranoia and sense of futility won't change your feelings about the Middle East. But it may open your eyes to the sense of violation that drives the endless cycle of violence there.

Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | comment Comment
03/15/06
Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel

The movie is more noteworthy for the intimate suspense it brings to the subject of Israeli occupation than for any dramatic conclusion it chooses to reach.

Full Review Source: Orlando Weekly | comment Comment
03/09/06
Steve Schneider
Steve Schneider
Orlando Weekly

Rather than evincing some subtlety in its depiction of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the movie's Italian makers prefer to engage in melodrama and simplistic Israel-bashing.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
01/01/06
Shlomo Schwartzberg
Shlomo Schwartzberg
Boxoffice Magazine

Costanzo is...successful in creating an emotional attachment to his characters.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles CityBeat | comment Comment
12/15/05
Andy Klein
Andy Klein
Los Angeles CityBeat
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
12/06/05
AV Club

... involving and provocative ...

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
12/02/05
Kevin Thomas
Kevin Thomas
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

While the film is ultimately too limited in its scope to have much lingering impact, it does make for a thoughtful addition to the growing list of films dealing with the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
12/02/05
Frank Scheck
Frank Scheck
Hollywood Reporter
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Not only is it a compelling and gripping drama, but it dares to take a balanced look at the conflict through the eyes of the people in the middle of it.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
12/02/05
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

The young Italian director Saverio Costanzo puts an unnervingly intimate twist on the costs of military occupation in this aptly claustrophobic drama.

Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | comment Comment
12/01/05
Ella Taylor
Ella Taylor
L.A. Weekly

The film's dramatic potential is never fully exploited, as if the filmmakers too never dared to explore what happened on the first floor.

Full Review Source: european-films.net | comment Comment
11/23/05
Boyd van Hoeij
Boyd van Hoeij
european-films.net

Costanzo evokes a world of human complexities in his characters' relationships, and the film's sadly ironic ending is anything but simplistic.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
11/18/05
Maitland McDonagh
Maitland McDonagh
TV Guide's Movie Guide

The Palestinian characters are so thinly conceived that they might as well be named Victims One through Seven, and they're far more developed than the Israeli characters.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
11/18/05
Kyle Smith
Kyle Smith
New York Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Private, Italian director Saverio Costanzo's stunning human drama, would seem like something out of Kafka if it weren't based on real events and a relatively common fact of contemporary Palestinian life.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
11/18/05
Jack Mathews
Jack Mathews
New York Daily News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A midnight raid by Israeli soldiers turns the home of a Palestinian family into an occupied territory in Saverio Constanzo's politically loaded allegory.

comment Comment
11/17/05
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
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