Gaza mon amour – A Simple Yet Overstretched Drama

Gaza mon Amour (or ‘Gaza my love’), is the latest drama directed by Tarzan Nasser and Arab Nasser. Premiering at the 2020 Venice Film Festival, it was named the winner of the NETPAC Award for Best Asian Film. It was also selected as the Palestinian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards but was not nominated

Set within the Hamas controlled Gaza, audiences can feel the politics throughout. Though this only helps the plot slightly, it makes the world feel real. Like whenever one goes to a different location and comes back. It carries a lot.

Gaza mon Amour stars Dau as a 60 year old, never married fisherman, named Issa who falls in love with Siham (Abbas), a single mother living with her divorced daughter. Issa never had the courage to tell her that he was in love with her. Once Issa finds a statue of Appolo in the sea, he believes his luck may have turned around.

Unfortunately, the plot doesn’t work as much as it should have. The whole Issa – Siham dynamic just doesn’t work as it all feels so forced. Despite the film’s short running time, clocking in at under 90 minutes, the plot still stretches for too long. However, one thing the film handles perfectly is its execution of the backstories of these characters, giving them just the right amount.

According to the film, Issa was never able to tell Siham that he loves her, but just 20 minutes in, he starts making moves like he doesn’t care. I want that confidence in my life!

Issa finds a Phallic statue of Appolo in the sea while fishing. And somehow, the guards didn’t care to check on the very day he found the statue. A lot of film is indeed satire, it shows shows Issa’s midlife crises in a very humorous way. His sister keeps pushing him to find a fiancé but he keeps ignoring her. On the other side, Siham wants her daughter to get married again while ignoring the daughter, who wants Siham to marry again. Siham knows Issa has feelings for her but she tries to avoid him.

The humor of Gaza mon Amour was handled surprisingly well. While the world building and cinematography are great, the plot just stretches for too long as only the experienced actors carry it along thanks to their charm. Otherwise the film does get on the dull side at times. Meanwhile, it also suffers bad editing at times which could become distracting. The quality of the film truly goes down with the length. As the film reached the end, it felt like the filmmakers just wanted to end it somehow, making the ending feel forced.

In the end, despite its flaws, Gaza mon Amour remains an enjoyable watch. In spite of its problems, the film tackles several big themes in a well-executed way. Though the film doesn’t bring anything too unique to the table, many are sure to still find a good time here.

*still courtesy of Vortex Media*

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Anmol Pandhi

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