Movie: The Inner Tour

The Inner Tour


Well, this movie has already been reviewed by The New York Times, and assuming you will read it, I am only going to tell you about those parts of the movie which caught my attention.

Link to The New York Times review : http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9507E4DB143AF932A35757C0A9649C8B63&ex=1332475200&en=709faf668585ee66&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

But yes, before I move on, let me point to you something I happened to notice on the movie's IMDB page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0277039/

You will find that the Germany (Berlin film festival) version of the movie is only 85 minutes, down by 12 minutes, and having seen the movie I am sure that a large part of those 12 minutes are from a chapter of the movie which deals with a parallel being drawn between the sufferings of the Jews at the hands of the Nazis and the Palestinians sufferings due in large part to the Israeli's "Defence force"

The movie has been broken down to 7 chapters and even the chapters are very, very well chosen. There are points in each of the chapter which underline the choice of the chapter title, and this in fact builds gradually to the overall effect the movie has on the viewer.

I am too tempted to reveal the plot, but I am going to resist the temptation and will now tell you what I consider the best portions of each of the chapters.

As the review itself will tell you, the movie(documentary, really) is mostly about Palestinian families, about 5 to 10 of them, touring Israel. They are all visiting Israel for the first time in their lives, and carry baggages of memories of their the pre-partition lives of their own or their families.

1. Very Nice Israel

There is this young man, whose mother is in Lebanon and since he has a Palestinean passport, he cannot visit her. He also has a sister whom he cant meet. On the first day of the tour, he meets these Asians who tell him that they find Israel very nice.
He asks them if they like all of Israel, and then asks them if they like Israel or Palestine.
They tell him that they have never had a chance to "be on the other side"

2. Years pass by and for us time stands for still:

There are various scenes in this chapter, all of which together seem to say this one thing: It is only the burden of time, the baggage that we carry voluntarily on our backs that pull us down. While Israel has become this powerful country, technologically and economically developed, average Palestineans continue to lead a life less ordinary, for, unfortunately, and quite often, unadmittedly, they are caught in a time warp.
They fell down, but instead of choosing to get up, dust themselves and move on, they chose to lie down and wail. ( I know that I am being rather opinionated here, but I am somehow in the mood for strong opinions after having seen the contrast between the lives, as shown in the movie, and as understood otherwise!)

Yes, one needs to sympathise with the cause of the Palestinians. There is no doubt about that. But, just who is to be blamed? The people who wronged the Palestinians have long been dead (disregarding the ongoing violence and international socio-economic-political damage caused by the Israelis).
But, you watch this movie, and you realise that the man on the street in Israel cannot be blamed for your woes. The average Israeli is leading a happy life, and the average Palestinian is still stuck in a time warp! (If at all the problem was not as complex as it really is, the armchair blogger like me could have offered a solution, but, it is indeed a complex problem, and I am only saying what I felt while watching the movie!)


3. I dont want to see; I dont want to see;

Nothing much here really, except for... well, let me not bust the entire movie for you!
Yeah, one of the things that moves you here is the fact that there is this old man, who likens himself to an ostrich burying its head in the sand when in danger. He is drawing a parallel with himself and how he is pained to see many things as part of the tour, and just closes his eye saying "I dont want to see, I dont want to see" to himself...This again makes one think about how, refusing to acknowledge the existence of a problem takes one away from the reality of having to find a solution!

4. I am not even going to tell you the title :P ( I really want you to watch the movie!)

5. Do you like your life?

Imagine this conversation between an Israeli and a Palestinian:

Palestinian: Do you like your life?
Israeli: Yes, I like your life. Why?
Palestinian : Because some people. They dont like their life.
Israeli: Why dont they like their life? Then they should do what they like!
Palestinian :.......
Israeli: It takes time..It takes time..

6 and 7. Well, I have already revealed quite a lot, although I have tried my best to strike a balance between revealing enough to make you want to watch this movie while at the same time not revealing more than what would you put you off!

But, let me just close this review of sorts with one last memory..There is this blind man in the movie who had done exceedingly well for himself in life, despite whatever happened to him as a Palestinian. He is quite well off, and during one of the conversations with a fellow passenger, he recollects an old village saying

"A lot of beating makes a weak man strong"

I just wanted to stand up and clap in full agreement :)


The movie is mostly in Hebrew and Arabic, and the English sub titles do help, but somehow, I felt that it could have been even more impactful and thought provoking had it been in English..
There are obviously atleast some characters I have not even mentioned about, and some aspects to the characters I have left about, just so that you dont accuse me of being a killjoy!
I would rate this movie as a must watch. If you get to watch it, you must watch it..Really!