Dir. Simone Bitton, 2004, France/Israel, 96 mins, subtitles
Cast: Simone Bitton
Review by Kerry McLeod
From the opening shot of this meditative, poignant film, as the camera moves swiftly along a brightly painted mural beneath a soundtrack of small children being interviewed, Wall is probing and questioning what we hear and what we see; gently and almost imperceptibly, but probing nonetheless.
This is a film about the wall that is being built by a force of largely Palestinian labourers for the Israeli government, separating the two peoples. The title needs no definitive article; just as its presence in the lives of those interviewed is magnified beyond physical concrete, so its presence in nearly every shot looms over the film. A self-described Arab Jew, director Simone Bitton has made this film as a direct response to the construction of the wall, examining the effects on an already divided people. The result is a highly personal film, featuring the bilingual Bitton’s voice as she interviews those on both sides, and even asks a psychiatrist friend at one point “am I mad?” It’s searching, emotive, and reflexive, yet it never falls into a trap of pure subjectiveness.
The slow, meditative style of the camera is reflected in the contemplations of the people Bitton interviews, whom we rarely see. Their ruminations are largely laid over images of the wall itself. The shots are long, allowing a narrative of uncertainty, anger and resistance to emerge within the spaces. The opening sequence along the mural is bookended with another in the closing of the film as the camera tracks along another section of the wall. It could be a different wall entirely; it appears to cut directly through a neighbourhood, and gone are the murals, to be replaced by graffiti echoing the growing sense of opposition to the wall.
Filmed in Hebrew and Arabic, the interviews are as revealing as the images. From the Iraqi labourer reminiscing about his home village, to the angry, eloquent Kibbutz worker who encapsulates his frustration with the words “we love this land so much that we enclose it”, the interviews are a reflection of Bitton’s own views. There are no fundamentalists here; she has sought the views of ordinary people whose lives have been changed by the wall, and created a space for non-judgemental, non-politicised reflection, echoing her own thoughts and desires.
The one exception is her interview with Israeli defence minister General Amos Yaron, in which he discusses the decision to build the wall and the logistics of its construction. The style is much more formal than the other interviews; Yaron sits at a desk, an Israeli flag flanking him either side, and appears slightly annoyed the whole time, in direct contrast to the easy, conversational tone that Bitton enjoys with her other subjects. His words are aggressive; when asked about the ecological effect he replies: “I won’t deny it causes damage. It’s the Palestinians’ fault”. (So it’s slightly surprising to learn that the set up and content were entirely the choice of the General and his spokesperson.)
The interviews are separated by long periods of relative silence filled with ambient sounds or music, allowing space for thought and reflection. It’s beautifully shot, with still frames or languid movements in long takes: in one shot the frame is partly blocked by one of the concrete blocks of the wall that has just been laid. Beyond it we can see a clear, rural landscape. Then a second, and a third slat are laid, until the landscape has become completely obscured by concrete. It speaks volumes.
The film ends with a sequence of people scaling the wall – slipping between the barbed wire, hoisting themselves over the concrete; even, at one stage, passing a baby over before climbing up themselves. These images of defiant resistance eloquently suggest what Bitton herself believes; that a resolution is possible, that the wall will come down. As one man says when he sees the camera filming: “Film brother. Send us abroad. Show them how we jump!”
The film has just been announced in the documentary section of the forthcoming Sundance festival, so we’ll probably we hearing more about this film in the months to come.
