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Rana's Wedding

EMAILPRINTArab Film Distribution

Rana's Wedding reviews
71
10.0 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 19 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 2 votes
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Foreign

Written by: Liana Badr
Ihab Lamey

Directed by: Hany Abu-Assad

Release Date:
Theatrical: August 22, 2003
DVD: December 1, 2004

Running Time: 90 minutes, Color

Origin: Palestine

Language(s): Arabic (with English subtitles)

Summary

RATING: Not Rated

Starring Clara Khoury, Khalifa Natour, Ismael Dabbag, Walid Abed Elsalam, Zuher Fahoum, and Bushra Karaman

Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad's timely feature explores love among the ruins of an occupied territory and is the winner of the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival's 2003 Nestor Almendros Prize for courage in filmmaking. (Arab Film Distribution)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

San Francisco Chronicle Jonathan Curiel

A bittersweet film that tells the story of Palestinian life as eloquently as anything ever done.

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100

Film Threat 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.

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80

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

The movie's wistful tone leavened with breaks into farce recalls Elia Suleiman's superbly controlled "Chronicle of a Disappearance."

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80

Variety 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.

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80

The New York Times 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.

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75

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

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

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75

New York Post V.A. Musetto

This black comedy is a small gem.

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75

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

The movie is passable as a story but fascinating as a document. It gives a more complete visual picture of the borders, the Palestinian settlements and the streets of Jerusalem than we ever see on the news.

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75

Chicago Tribune Robert K. Elder

Starts out slowly, unfolding a family history through the poetic use of black-and-white photographs -- blending the figures of Rana's ancestors into the frame as if they still watched the family.

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75

Boston Globe Janice Page

An invitation to see something a little less pretty, and potentially more enduring.

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70

Los Angeles Times Manohla Dargis

The film effectively conveys the fears and frustrations of Palestinians struggling in a country that treats them as the enemy.

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70

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

Given the tension dogging her every step, I wondered if this would end in bloodshed, but Abu-Assad opts for a more hopeful conclusion, making his film -- strange as it may seem -- a comedy.

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70

Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan

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

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70

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

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

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70

The Onion (A.V. Club) 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.

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63

Miami Herald Marta Barber

Strong acting from Khoury saves the weak storyline.

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60

TV Guide 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.

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50

The Hollywood Reporter Frank Scheck

While the film, directed by Hany Abu-Assad, provides a vivid portrait of the landscape, its dramatic aspects are less impressive, with the contrived plot and paper-thin characterizations basically serving to provide a framework for its impressionistic portrait.

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50

Village Voice 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.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 10.0 (out of 10) based on 2 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Carla M. gave it a 10:
Wonderfully done!!!!!!!! touching.

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