Review of Wedding in Galilee (1987) by Walter M — 16 Jul 2015

In " Wedding in Galilee," Mukhtar(Mohamad Ali El Akili) would like nothing more than to throw his son(Nazih Akleh) a wedding to remember. The problem is the strict Israeli curfew would definitely shorten the celebration and ruin the festivities. So, a subordinate in the Israeli army comes up with the novel solution of Mukhtar inviting the military governor(Makram Khoury) to the wedding. With that settled, Mukhtar goes about inviting the whole village. So while plans are made, so too are plots.

Through a variety of subplots and set mostly over a single eventful day and night, "Wedding in Galilee" serves as an excellent allegory of the entire Israeli/Arab situation. While there is a great deal of promise shown in coexistence, with both sides actually working together at one point, the movie is just as emphatic at showing the difficulties in achieving true peace in the region. Of separate interest is surprisingly how sensual this is for a Middle Eastern film.