"Lemon is what makes food taste bad, if it is not added" it says in a cookbook of mine. That is very true. Now in religious thought, i believe lemon trees are considered a symbol of long lasting friendship and if that is not added to life, it will taste bad. With those symbolisms in place, it makes good sense to use a quarrel over a lemon grove, as a metaphor for the friendship, or lack there of, in the relationship between Jews and Arabs.
A middle aged Palestinian widow, lives alone, except for her old male friend worker, in her Lemon grove on the West Bank, right at the border to Israel. When the Israeli minister of defense and his wife moves in the house right on the opposite side of the border, the widow is met with a sanction to cut down the grove for security reasons. She hires a young Palestinian lawyer, who helps her get through to the Israeli supreme court. During the proces, she develops feelings for the young lawyer. Furthermore, the wife of the minister on the other side, develops sympathy for the widows cause and slowly she turns against her husbands hostile mentality towards those on the other side.
I am very sympathetic to the thought of making a movie about this age old conflict. But also, i am on my toes for political correctness, and in some sense, this is above all a political/religious conflict, so no matter how you spell out any sympathy, or the opposite, you are inevitably heading towards political correctness. So it is wise, that the director downplays the jew/arab aspect for most of the movie and focuses on the development of the characters. It is not really until the end that it is spelled out a bit, but it would seem odd if nothing was said at all. It is an impossible balance to strike. I really like the organic and "close to the ground" feel the movie has, it reminds you that the earth and the plants, do not really care what people are thinking and doing. They just stand their while humans put up and tear down arbitrary borders and fences in the hope that subjective illusions do not spread.
Despite setting up a well balanced and interesting scenario, it does not really hit the big mark. The lead actress, is too unemotional for my taste and at times, literally a stone face. The evolving relationship between her and the lawyer does not feel all that believable. It feels like it is forced into the script to give the widow emotional depth. That backfires a bit. Furthermore it feels unfocused. You are not really sure what is the main story and it never really materializes. I like to have something clearly being the anchor of the movie. And the last, but not least. There is a constant underlying gynocentrism. All the bad guys are men and all the good "guys" are women. The only good men are the "weak" beta-males, who help the widow. The wife of the minister clearly does not like it when she sees the actual effects of state violence. But what the hell did she expect, marrying a politician. Politics is the wielding of violent power!
Artistically it is still very softly spoken. Only now and then he tries to be creative, like when she dreams about all the lemons falling from the trees. He does have a fetish for split screens and the golden ratio, which is playing safe i suppose, but it feels right in this sort of movie. It is a solid effort, but i would have liked a bit more meat and some more interesting acting.
Rating: 7/10