A quick history of Absurdistan, the country now known as Israel or Palestine (depending on which part of the wall you end up on). A personalised account starting from the Jewish take over of Palestine in 1948 and leading up to current day Israel. The movie however is less about the big picture, Palestinian-Israeli relations, but more about the very personal story of Elia Suleiman, his father - a resistance fighter - and mother.
The backdrop of history is used with great consequence, as Suleiman drives his tale through varying levels of absurdity and yet manages to deliver an emotionally gripping tale. Scenes of profound sadness, like the death of Elia's father, are preceded by short, but realistic, sketches of the ludicrous and nonsensical, like a tank following a man taking out the trash. However Suleiman delivers it with such class, that he never once dances with being a pastiche and remains a poignant, artistic picture throughout. Instead of making a dramatised account full of grief and sadness, Suleiman does the unthinkable with a devastating effect: laughs it all out.
Elia Suleiman is increasingly proving himself to be not only the most important Palestinian director, but also the best Israeli one as well. Talk about being absurd...
