Rana's Wedding | Telescope Film
Rana's Wedding

Rana's Wedding (القدس في يوم آخر)

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  • Palestine,
  • Netherlands,
  • United Arab Emirates
  • 2003
  • · 90m

Director Hany Abu-Assad
Cast Khalifa Natour, Clara Khoury, Ismael Dabbag, Walid Abed Elsalam
Genre Comedy, Drama, Romance

A Palestinian girl of 17 who wants to get married to the man of her own choosing. Rana wakes up one morning to an ultimatum delivered by her father: she must either choose a husband from a preselected list of men, or she must leave Palestine for Egypt with her father by 4:00 that afternoon.

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What are critics saying?

100

Film Threat by Phil Hall

Among the finest films made in the Middle East. This small, subtle gem offers a vivid portrait of life in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, presenting its message with an intelligence and vibrancy that celebrates the human spirit in an environment where humanity is routinely crushed and assaulted.

80

The New York Times by Stephen Holden

Ms. Khoury, often filmed in close-up, gives a deeply sensitive, unsentimental performance, and the feelings that crowd on her face (sometimes more than one at a time) run the gamut from despair to ambivalence to hysterical frustration to tenderness and joy.

80

Variety by Deborah Young

Though shot from the Palestinian P.O.V., the Dutch/Palestinian Film Foundation co-production is remarkably balanced, offering a convinced message of hope for the future.

75

New York Post by V.A. Musetto

This black comedy is a small gem.

75

Christian Science Monitor by David Sterritt

Excellent acting, and a plot that combines suspense, whimsy, and political resonance make this Palestinian comedy-drama an unusual treat.

70

Washington Post by Ann Hornaday

Clara Khoury delivers a performance that is luminous, fierce and intensely focused as the title character of Rana's Wedding.

70

Washington Post by Michael O'Sullivan

Both wry and sobering, if such a thing is possible. In Jerusalem, apparently, it's inevitable.

70

The A.V. Club by Scott Tobias

Agreeably soft at heart, a fun and progressive entertainment that above all wants to give love a wide berth, no matter what imposing obstacles have to be cleared from the aisle first.

60

TV Guide Magazine by Ken Fox

Khoury may be a few years too old to play a minor still squirming under her father's thumb, but her performance as a timid young woman who finds strength while looking for a husband is quite affecting.

50

Village Voice by Michael Atkinson

It's tempting to read Abu-Assad's view of his ostentatiously wealthy heroine and her debutante narcissism as satirical of a certain cross-section of modernized Palestinians amid the occupation, but the placid, earnest way her dilemma takes up emotional space in his film suggests half-bakery.