Hany Abu-Assad’s superb drama “Omar” has a built-in controversy, within its competition for Best Foreign Language Film at the very least: it’s the first movie the Academy has recognized, without qualifiers, as having been made by “Palestine.” A love story, a twist-enriched chase thriller set in realistic locations, and possessed by an inspired ending, “Omar” may be more riveting than Abu-Assad’s Oscar-nominated suicide-bomber drama “Paradise Now” from 2006. The “Isolation Wall” and a tunnel separate two lovers (Adam Bakri, Leem Lubany), and that separation inspires Omar, a baker, to take up arms. “There are only two types of love stories,” Abu-Assad has written, rightly, “the tragic and the comedic.” The script’s epic complications, especially Omar’s decision to collaborate with an Israeli agent (Waleed F. Zuaiter), demonstrate that insight, and Abu-Assad’s skills as practical filmmaker as well as dramatist enriches the nail-biting experience. With Samer Bisharat, Eyad Hourani. 98m. (Ray Pride)
“Omar” opens Friday, February 28 at Landmark Century. A clip is below.
Ray Pride is Newcity’s film critic and a contributing editor to Filmmaker magazine.
His multimedia history of Chicago “Ghost Signs” will be published soon. Previews of the project are on Twitter and on Instagram as Ghost Signs Chicago. More photography on Instagram.
Seeing The Elephant: A Review Of Babylon The boisterous, brawling yet melancholy "Babylon," is a variation on film history, but more drawing for drama. It's gaudy and mean, celebratory and sorrowful.
Heart: A Review of Soul The real world is soulful, too, in Pixar's bountiful life of the mind.
Uncanny Ally: A Review Of M3GAN "M3GAN" sells itself in its first handful of seconds in how it introduces the handiwork of roboticist Gemma (Allison Williams, "Get Out") and her present product, PurrPetual Petz from Funki.
RECOMMENDED
