Miral (2010)

Spanning from 1947 through the early 1990s, the film follows three Palestinian women: Hind (Hiam Abbass) who opens a school for Palestinian war orphans, Nadia (Yasmine Al Massri) who comes from a history of sexual abuse by her stepfather and Fatima (Ruba Blal), a nurse who becomes radicalized into a terrorist. But these stories are merely the backstories of the film's main character Miral (Freida Pinto) so we can see the history that formed her circumstances. Based on the autobiographical book by Rula Jebreal and directed by Julian Schnabel (DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY). Like his previous three films, MIRAL is based on a true story. In a way, this might make a good double bill with Otto Preminger's EXODUS (1960) since both films look at their "side" in a singular way. Torn between between the injustices of Israel toward her fellow Palestinians and a desire for peace, Miral must carve out her own way of dealing with the conflict. The film is not anti-Israel though some may look at it that way. In her meatiest role to date, Pinto proves she's just not pretty face but has the range of a real actress. She does quite well considering her character is too dry to elicit much interest. With Vanessa Redgrave, Willem Dafoe, Omar Metwally and in the film's best performance, Alexander Siddig as Miral's father.