Omar film review by Sara Grab

Omar Film Review by Sara Grab

The film Omar is absolutely spectacular! Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad creates a masterpiece of film. Omar is an Oscar nominee for best foreign film and I defiantly believe it deserves to win. The protagonists are introduced to us right in the begging of the film. The film starts out with the handsome athletic Omar (Adam Bakri) climbing the isolation wall, the wall separates Omar’s village from his best friend Tareks Village. As he quickly clims the wall a group of Isreali soldiers spot him and try to shoot him however they just miss and graze his hand. Omar doesn’t seem to pay much attention to being shot at and jumps over to the other side of the village. His best friends Tareks (Eyad Hourani),  Tareks beautiful sister Nadia ( Leem Lubany) and Amjad (Samer Bisharat) are all waiting patiently for Omar’s arrival. Omar is greeted by stunning Nadia they pair smiles at each other and it is apparent that there is some sort of chemistry between the couple.

The three boys head out to go practice shooting their guns. Tarek who is the leader of the pack is training the boys to become “ Freedom Fighters” The trio goes forth with their first mission; they kill an Israeli soldier and lucky escape scot-free. However the next day Omar is caught after an intense foot chase through his town. He is taken to prison where he is tortured and brutally beaten. The soldiers continue to torture him in hopes that he will tell them who was apart of the attack. However Omar being the loyal friend he is doesn’t say a weird. He is recorded talking to an undercover prisoner saying “ I will never confess” The soldiers use this as evidence against him telling him that he will be in jail until he dies unless he turns in his friends. This is a very intense part of the film cut with a lot of close ups of Omar being tortured. Omar decided to make a deal with the prison warden Rami ( Waldeen F. Zuaiter) he tells Omar he will be freed for a month on the terms that he will lead them to the ringleader Tarek, who has been missing since Omar’s capture.

The first thing Omar does is go and sees his dear Nadia who he is madly In love with. He has saved up money for them to buy a home together and plans on spending the rest of his life with her. Omar reunited with his two friends Tarek and Amjad the team plans another attack on the Isrealies. Once again everyone gets away besides Omar who is taken to prisoner once again. Rami who has sympathy for Omar gives him one last chance to bring them Tarek. His love with Nadia takes a turn for the worst as he starts to realize he was betrayed be her and his friends. Omar is completely heartbroken. A couple years’ later Omar attempts to climb the separation wall however is no longer able to. He falls to the ground and cries. This shows the transition from Omar being young to now growing older. The ending is a surprise twist and adds a whole new dimension to the film. The entire cast was non-profit actors and they did an spectacular job. The cinematography was simple but on point. This was an amazing film that I recommended to anyone and everyone!