The Israeli feature “For My Father” is a rarity indeed: A sweet, sentimental movie about a suicide bomber.
Don’t get me wrong, director Dror Zahavi doesn’t condone terrorism; in fact, he pictures it as an avoidable evil.
The story takes place during one eventful weekend. Palestinian Tarek (Shredi Jabarin) is awakened at home by his mom and driven to Tel Aviv by two cohorts.
He’s been outfitted with a vest of explosives that he is to set off in a crowded marketplace. But the trigger doesn’t work, and Tarek finds himself asking a Jewish electrician to order him a new one.
Waiting around for the part, the handsome Tarek bonds with the electrician and his depressed wife and begins a romance with Keren (Hili Yalon), a 17-year-old Israeli who runs a small shop across from the electrician’s. Keren is on the outs with her father and is being harassed by a pack of Orthodox toughs offended by her punk attire.
She wouldn’t rate a second look in the East Village, but this is Tel Aviv.
“For My Father,” nominated for seven awards in Israel’s version of the Oscars, manages to stay apolitical as its story subtly unfolds.
Yes, the message seems to be, there is hope yet for rapprochement in the Middle East.