Gaza Mon Amour

Directed by Tarzan and Arab Nasser, Gaza Mon Amour follows Salim Daw’s Issa as he attempts to work up the courage to ask for Siham’s (Hiam Abbass) hand in marriage. It’s an appealing premise that’s employed to pervasively meandering effect by the Nasser siblings, as the filmmakers deliver a deliberately-paced drama predominantly revolving around Issa and Siham’s respectively hardscrabble slice-of-life exploits – with, in particular, a heavy emphasis on the less-than-captivating problems that ensue after Issa, a fisherman, accidentally unearths an ancient statue of Apollo. There’s subsequently not a whole lot within Gaza Mon Amour‘s uneventful narrative worth getting terribly excited about, and it’s hard to deny, ultimately, that the picture’s almost passable atmosphere is due mainly to the strong work of its two charismatic leads – with both Daw and Abbass elevating the wafer-thin material on an ongoing basis. And although the final shot is admittedly quite special and affecting, Gaza Mon Amour has long-since cemented its place as an unmemorable drama that squanders its stellar performances. (The degree to which the Nassers put that Issa/Siham romance on the backburner is nothing short of baffling, ultimately.)

** out of ****

Leave a comment