75
New York Post by V.A. Musetto
Directed and co-written by Thierry Binisti, a TV veteran, the film boasts solid acting (especially from red-haired Bonitzer) and handsome cinematography.
A Bottle in the Gaza Sea (Une bouteille à la mer)
Critic Rating
(read reviews)User Rating
- France,
- Israel,
- Canada (Quebec)
- 2011
- · 100m
Director
Thierry Binisti
Cast
Hiam Abbass,
Abraham Belaga,
Agathe Bonitzer,
Reef Cohen,
François Loriquet,
Loai Nofi
Genre
Drama
Tai, a 17-year-old Israeli girl from Jerusalem, communicates with Naim, a 20-year-old Palestinian boy from Gaza, by sending messages in a bottle across the Gaza Sea. Both struggle to find their place, and their relationship to each other, in a conflict-ridden world.
Stream A Bottle in the Gaza Sea
What are critics saying?
70
The New York Times by Jeannette Catsoulis
Fueled by neither anger nor religious extremism - the director, Thierry Binisti, remains rigidly nonpartisan - "Bottle" is a gentle pairing of youthful idealism and tenacious hope.
60
The Hollywood Reporter by Frank Scheck
Ultimately A Bottle in the Gaza Sea adds little insight into a conflict that has already inspired several powerful dramas, such as the recent "The Other Son," and is sadly likely to be the subject of many more.
60
New York Daily News by Elizabeth Weitzman
There are no villains here, no attempts to sway opinions or even stake out political ground. Some will find that a disappointment. But the truth is that this effort is both more evenhanded than most dramas with similar themes, and more open-hearted.
60
Time Out by David Fear
The film's notion that a little understanding and a lot of e-mailing would basically solve the Middle East crisis, however, is as reductive as it is utopian.
50
Slant Magazine
The film obviously can't resolve the conflict between Palestine and Israel, but the resolution to the story's arc feels nonetheless forced and misplaced.
50
Village Voice by Jon Frosch
Although smoothly directed, A Bottle in the Gaza Sea has little visual personality or dramatic urgency. What might have been a tough and adult take on a bond full of hope but thwarted by war plays more like an after-school special.
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
The initially cynical Naim suggests Tal's project is insignificant, nothing but a bottle of hope bobbing about in a sea of enmity – and so too this film.
50
Slant Magazine by Caroline McKenzie
The film obviously can't resolve the conflict between Palestine and Israel, but the resolution to the story's arc feels nonetheless forced and misplaced.
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by Kate Taylor
The initially cynical Naim suggests Tal's project is insignificant, nothing but a bottle of hope bobbing about in a sea of enmity – and so too this film.
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