Elia Suleiman's Divine Intervention won the Jury Prize at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. Photo: Reel Palestine
Elia Suleiman's Divine Intervention won the Jury Prize at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. Photo: Reel Palestine
Elia Suleiman's Divine Intervention won the Jury Prize at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. Photo: Reel Palestine
Elia Suleiman's Divine Intervention won the Jury Prize at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. Photo: Reel Palestine

Divine Intervention review: Palestine's first Palme d'Or nominee still resonates


William Mullally
  • English
  • Arabic

Want to understand the complexity of the Palestinian experience? By all means, turn to art. But don’t expect that art to hold your hand, least of all the films of director Elia Suleiman.

To put it lightly, his films can be a bit difficult to explain in simple terms. Each of them is slow-moving, made up of mostly interlinked vignettes, ranging from heightened surrealism to everyday absurdity – from grand statements to fleeting observations.

His movies are primarily set in the West Bank, following several characters as they struggle to deal with life in occupation. If they have a protagonist, it’s Suleiman himself, who appears in each one, never speaking a word.

He never needs to speak, you’ll find. These are films that show rather than tell. And the more you watch, the more you realise how much he has to say.

Take one scene in Divine Intervention, his 2002 masterwork, for instance. In it, a European tourist in Palestine wanders over to an Israeli police car for help. She’s lost, she laments, and needs directions to a local attraction.

Elia Suleiman's Divine Intervention is a surreal black comedy that documents life in occupied Palestine. Photo: Reel Palestine
Elia Suleiman's Divine Intervention is a surreal black comedy that documents life in occupied Palestine. Photo: Reel Palestine

The Israeli officer is excited to help her but realises quickly he doesn’t know the way. He has an idea, however, and ventures to the back of his vehicle to pull out a blindfolded Palestinian prisoner, who cheerfully gives her routes to her destination, his eyes still covered.

Like the best gags, it’s rich with truth. From one angle, it’s an observation on indigenousness. The policeman is a supposed authority in a land he’s wholly unfamiliar with. Meanwhile, the Palestinian man is so deeply at home that he can give directions sight unseen.

From yet another perspective, the joke is on the tourist, who accepts the absurd situation instantly and selfishly, never questioning or protesting against the obvious injustice she’s witnessing as she carries on her own journey.

We meet these characters again later in the film. This time, even though the truth has been revealed to the tourist, nothing has changed – she still returns to the Israeli authority for help. But now he can provide none, because the Palestinian prisoner has slipped from his grasp without him realising it.

Divine Intervention was divisive when it was released, as critics at times struggled to grasp the points that Suleiman was making with his comedic vignettes. That’s partially because he makes so many, in such variance.

Some scenes contain clear, broad political commentary on the Israel-Palestine relationship. Others are more personal, as Suleiman grapples with the death of his father, or dramatises the basic annoyances of everyday life.

Elia Suleiman has become a Cannes Film Festival mainstay, with three films having competed for the top prize over the past decades. Photo: Carole Bethuel
Elia Suleiman has become a Cannes Film Festival mainstay, with three films having competed for the top prize over the past decades. Photo: Carole Bethuel

At face value, that can make the effort seem as if it lacks focus. But the film’s comedy, big and small, all has the same aim.

Suleiman explained this in a 2002 interview with The Guardian: “I think that [viewers] learn about Palestine when they laugh. They become a little bit Palestinian, just by that."

Divine Intervention is not an essay – it’s a diary. It’s a window into one man’s soul, at times sharply focused and other times disassociated. There’s love and pain, often simultaneously. There’s trivial anger and righteous fury – fleeting fantasies and stark realities.

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And it's a landmark in the history of Palestinian film, in more ways than one. Twenty two years ago this week, it became the first film from the nation to compete for the Palme D’or at the Cannes Film Festival, eventually winning the jury prize from a group led by director David Lynch.

For many across the world who watched it after that success, the film was likely the first time they viewed the world through Palestinian eyes.

That itself is a political act, as the opposition has long worked to erase that perspective from people's minds.

Watching it in the context of the continuing devastation in Gaza, it still feels as vital as ever.

Divine Intervention is playing on Friday and Saturday at Cinema Akil in Dubai as part of Reel Palestine's Permission to Narrate festival

Getting there

The flights

Emirates and Etihad fly to Johannesburg or Cape Town daily. Flights cost from about Dh3,325, with a flying time of 8hours and 15 minutes. From there, fly South African Airlines or Air Namibia to Namibia’s Windhoek Hosea Kutako International Airport, for about Dh850. Flying time is 2 hours.

The stay

Wilderness Little Kulala offers stays from £460 (Dh2,135) per person, per night. It is one of seven Wilderness Safari lodges in Namibia; www.wilderness-safaris.com.

Skeleton Coast Safaris’ four-day adventure involves joining a very small group in a private plane, flying to some of the remotest areas in the world, with each night spent at a different camp. It costs from US$8,335.30 (Dh30,611); www.skeletoncoastsafaris.com

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Awar Qalb

Director: Jamal Salem

Starring: Abdulla Zaid, Joma Ali, Neven Madi and Khadija Sleiman

Two stars

The Bio

Favourite holiday destination: Either Kazakhstan or Montenegro. I’ve been involved in events in both countries and they are just stunning.

Favourite book: I am a huge of Robin Cook’s medical thrillers, which I suppose is quite apt right now. My mother introduced me to them back home in New Zealand.

Favourite film or television programme: Forrest Gump is my favourite film, that’s never been up for debate. I love watching repeats of Mash as well.

Inspiration: My late father moulded me into the man I am today. I would also say disappointment and sadness are great motivators. There are times when events have brought me to my knees but it has also made me determined not to let them get the better of me.

Global state-owned investor ranking by size

1.

United States

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UAE

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Japan

5

Norway

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Canada

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Singapore

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South Korea

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The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo

The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
​​​​​​​Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km

Anghami
Started: December 2011
Co-founders: Elie Habib, Eddy Maroun
Based: Beirut and Dubai
Sector: Entertainment
Size: 85 employees
Stage: Series C
Investors: MEVP, du, Mobily, MBC, Samena Capital

Real estate tokenisation project

Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.

The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.

Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.

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Updated: May 17, 2024, 6:02 PM`