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France, Germany, Israel · 2004
1h 37m
Director Eran Riklis
Starring Hiam Abbass, Makram J. Khoury, Clara Khoury, Evelyn Kaplun
Genre Drama
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Mona, a Druze bride-to-be, lives in a village on the border of Israel and Syria. With rampant political unrest and complex familial relationships, the wedding planning is a nightmare. Tensions rise when Mona's siblings, who have moved to different countries, come home before the big day.
Ambitious screenplay by helmer Eran Riklis (best known outside Israel for "Cup Final") and former journalist Suha Arraf puts plenty of human flesh on its characters, who span the religious and cultural spectrum of Golan Heights dwellers.
An extraordinary social comedy.
New York Daily News by Elizabeth Weitzman
The result is both tragic and darkly comic - in this complex environment, blame and sorrow are locked in a partnership of absurdity.
The Hollywood Reporter by Frank Scheck
The Syrian Bride manages to entertain even as it both moves and amuses.
The Syrian Bride has no particular visual style, but it exudes affection, for its characters and their culture as well as the unprepossessing beauty of the scrubby terrain that holds them in thrall. Like all wedding films, it's essentially a comedy, albeit a sad one.
There is, however, considerable humor to what might have been an exceedingly grim film, and most of it comes courtesy of Mona's slippery brother, Marwan (Ashraf Barhoum).
A strangely inert affair. The stories devolve into one-dimensional squabbling and too many loose threads flap around the edges.
The New York Times by Stephen Holden
The film uses the situation to evoke a sense of the absurd, sometimes with dry, deadpan humor.
The A.V. Club by Tasha Robinson
Ultimately, The Syrian Bride becomes an overtly political movie, but with all its loose threads and random directions, it feels more like the pilot for an unmade miniseries.
Tackling serious issues with humor and understanding, the film portrays Mona's woes as a microcosm of the entire mess in the Middle East.