Review of Private (2004)

Introduction

If there is a powder keg in the modern world, it has to be the Middle East. Since after the Second World War, the establishment of the state of Israel and the subsequent territorial expansion of the same has lit the fuse to a powder keg that affects the world to a disproportionate degree. All that successive Western governments can do is to keep that keg from exploding with peace initiative after peace initiative, and UN resolutions that no one pays attention to. The current thinking is that the solution to would be the Israeli withdrawal from the occupied territories, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. One can only imagine what it must be like to be an occupied people, to have your very lives regulated by an external authority, declaring where you can live, where you can travel. It`s no surprise that extremist violence occurs on both sides. Recently, there has been a further twist in the tale, with the acceptance of a partial withdrawal from the occupied territories, and the sight of the Israeli army acting against Jewish settlers who refuse to leave their homes. Now, after almost decades of hate and acrimony, no easy solution presents itself, but perhaps by looking at what happens in the occupied territories, we can understand the feelings engendered by the occupation and work to resolve those feelings. At least that is the hope of Private made in 2004 by Saverio Costanzo.

Mohammed is the patriarch of a fairly normal family, except in that it is Palestinian and living with Israeli occupation. Mohammed`s intent is that his family should live as normally as possible, but their day-to-day lives are interrupted when Israeli soldiers burst into his home, round him up, as well as his wife and their five children and herd them into the living room. They are told that their house now belongs to the Israeli army, and he has a choice whether to leave or not. Mohammed insists on staying in the house, to which the commander announces that the house is now divided into three, the upstairs now belong to the soldiers, and no one is to venture up there on pain of punishment, the lower storey is for the family`s use during the day by the soldiers` permission, and the nights must be spent in the living room. Mohammed is a pacifist, who believes that by peaceful and non-violent protest he can fight the occupation, and that by choosing to stay in his house despite the presence of the soldiers, he is making a statement about his rights as a human being. However his principled stand will have far reaching effects on his family.

Video

Private is presented on this disc in a 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer. It was shot digitally, and that is reflected in the picture quality. Costanzo uses a hand-held feel with natural light to give the film a realistic documentary style. With daytime scenes the image is clear, but darker scenes lack detail and contrast. Since the image quality is more an issue of creative choice rather than the disc`s technical specifications, I`ll just add that the style was effective in establishing a tension and atmosphere that pervaded the film.

Audio

The sole soundtrack is a DD 2.0 one. This is a film that is more dependent on dialogue than anything else and that comes across perfectly clearly, although the same realistic style means that on occasion raised voices can sound harsh. Subtitles are provided, but only for the Hebrew and Arabic dialogue. The English dialogue is left uncaptioned, and this follows through to the extras.

Features

The disc comes with some nicely animated menus, as well as some impressive extra features.

The behind the scenes featurette is titled Not Only For A Piece Of Land, and lasts 57 minutes. This is a video diary of the production, and has plenty of footage of the minor trivialities of production. More importantly it has interviews with the cast and crew. The actors are predominantly Palestinian and Israeli and get quizzed about their feelings about the situation in the occupied territories. There`s plenty of overt political opinion that the main feature studiously avoids, and not all of it of one piece.

The Saverio Costanzo Q & A was filmed in the ICA in March 2005, and the director faces questions from an audience about the film. He talks about his hopes for the film, the ideas behind it, as well as the family whose true life inspired the story. It`s a very candid chat that is a useful addition to the main feature. This lasts 34 minutes in total.

Finally there is the theatrical trailer.

Conclusion

Private is a film worth seeing, if only because it presents an unvarnished view of the occupation, with real people in the situation instead of two-dimensional characters. The politics behind the film quickly becomes obvious, the occupation is inhumane and there must be a better way for people to share their lives. Yet the story painstakingly avoids overt political statement, allowing the viewer to draw his own conclusions.

The family is in every way a typical family, the parents do their best to set an example for the children, and not everyone is of one mind when it comes to the occupation. Naturally they resent the occupiers, but their day-to-day concerns are more to do with getting to university or getting homework done. The father is a principled man, whose moral core stands strongly against violent action, but believes it is better to resist as a free man, than to become a refugee. Initially, the soldiers who batter their way into the house seem almost faceless, and the behaviour of the commander tends to confirm the family`s impression that the soldiers are little better than animals, understandable as the story is told from the family`s point of view, but as the film progresses, we get to know the soldiers as well, and realise that they too are individuals with differing personalities.

The film concentrates on how the family deal with living with the soldiers in control of the house, and it is an obvious parallel to the occupation itself, with the house becoming the occupied territories in microcosm. The family members react in different ways, with the father`s passive resistance one extreme, one son`s desire to flee another. The eldest daughter wants to confront the invaders directly, and the reaction of the middle son offers a fleeting insight into what prompts those who contemplate terrorist actions.

Private is technically accomplished. Excellent performances, especially from the child actors, coupled with an escalating tension and dread make it a compelling watch. But, just like the Middle East situation itself, the film has no resolution. It doesn`t try to present answers, and by shying away from the politics to focus on the human cost and drama, it loses a dimension. It succeeds in getting across the tragedy of an occupied people, it excels in presenting its characters as genuine human beings, not all soldiers are brutal, not all Palestinians are extremists, but ultimately it fails in provoking thought. The interviews in the extra features go some way to addressing that point though and as such are an essential companion to the main film. Private is a film well worth examining.