Private (2004)

81% of critics liked it
(32 reviews)
76% of users liked it
(2,175 ratings)

Italian filmmaker Saverio Costanzo based his feature debut, Private, on a true story of a Palestinian family whose home was taken over by a platoon of Israeli soldiers. In the film, the family lives in between a Palestinian village and an Israeli settlement, making their home a strategic point for… More Italian filmmaker Saverio Costanzo based his feature debut, Private, on a true story of a Palestinian family whose home was taken over by a platoon of Israeli soldiers. In the film, the family lives in between a Palestinian village and an Israeli settlement, making their home a strategic point for the Israelis. Mohammad (well-known Palestinian actor Mohammad Bakri, who also directed the documentary Jenin, Jenin), the schoolteacher father, refuses to let his family abandon their home, despite the protestations of his frightened wife, Samia (Areen Omari). While the younger children seem traumatized by the invasion, eldest daughter Mariam (Hend Ayoub) can barely control her rage toward the Israelis, and is disgusted by her father's seeming passivity. The Israeli commander, Ofer (Israeli television actor Lior Miller), locks the family in their living room each night, and warns them that the second floor is off-limits, but Mariam sneaks upstairs, and is surprised at what she finds as she spies on the soldiers while hiding inside a wardrobe. The eldest son, Yusef (Amir Hasayen), is also angry, though he doesn't say much. But he's determined to make sure that the soldiers don't tear down the family's greenhouse again. Private won the Golden Leopard at the 2004 Locarno Film Festival, and was selected by the Museum of Modern Art and the Film Society of Lincoln Center for inclusion in the 2005 edition of New Directors/New Films. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 33 min.
Directed By: Saverio Costanzo
Written By: Camilla Costanzo, Saverio Costanzo, Alessio Cremonini, Sayed Oashua
Genres: Art House & International, Drama

In Theaters: Nov 18, 2005 Limited
On DVD: Jun 6, 2006
Studio: Typecast Releasing

Critic Reviews

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel
The film's paranoia and sense of futility won't change your feelings about the Middle East. But it may open your eyes to the sense of violation that drives the endless cycle of violence there.
Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
... involving and provocative ...
Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter
While the film is ultimately too limited in its scope to have much lingering impact, it does make for a thoughtful addition to the growing list of films dealing with the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.
Kyle Smith, New York Post
The Palestinian characters are so thinly conceived that they might as well be named Victims One through Seven, and they're far more developed than the Israeli characters.
Jack Mathews, New York Daily News
Private, Italian director Saverio Costanzo's stunning human drama, would seem like something out of Kafka if it weren't based on real events and a relatively common fact of contemporary Palestinian life.
Stephen Holden, New York Times
A midnight raid by Israeli soldiers turns the home of a Palestinian family into an occupied territory in Saverio Constanzo's politically loaded allegory.
Enrique Buchichio, Uruguay Total
Pocas veces una situación dramática puntual se convierte de manera tan gráfica en representación de un conflicto colectivo.
John Hartl, Seattle Times
A sketchy but compelling Italian movie about Middle East power struggles.
Sean Axmaker, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
... as politically defiant a metaphor for Israeli-Palestinian relations in the occupied territories as you'll ever see on screen.
, Empire Magazine
The script is occasionally heavy-handed in laying out motivation and meaning, but excellent performances from the Israeli-Palestinian cast and a chilling moral elevate this to more than 'issue film' status.
Marjorie Baumgarten, Austin Chronicle
Costanzo's debut feature film is potent stuff.
Steve Schneider, Orlando Weekly
The movie is more noteworthy for the intimate suspense it brings to the subject of Israeli occupation than for any dramatic conclusion it chooses to reach.
Shlomo Schwartzberg, Boxoffice Magazine
Rather than evincing some subtlety in its depiction of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the movie's Italian makers prefer to engage in melodrama and simplistic Israel-bashing.
Andy Klein, Los Angeles CityBeat
Costanzo is...successful in creating an emotional attachment to his characters.
Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall
Not only is it a compelling and gripping drama, but it dares to take a balanced look at the conflict through the eyes of the people in the middle of it.
Ella Taylor, L.A. Weekly
The young Italian director Saverio Costanzo puts an unnervingly intimate twist on the costs of military occupation in this aptly claustrophobic drama.
Boyd van Hoeij, european-films.net
The film's dramatic potential is never fully exploited, as if the filmmakers too never dared to explore what happened on the first floor.
Maitland McDonagh, TV Guide's Movie Guide
Costanzo evokes a world of human complexities in his characters' relationships, and the film's sadly ironic ending is anything but simplistic.

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Walter M

[font=Century Gothic]In "Private" a Palestinian family is not only living in the battlefield of the occupied West Bank but now they must face the additional indignity of having the Israeli army occupy their house. The army gets the second floor(under no circumstances are… More
[font=Century Gothic]In "Private" a Palestinian family is not only living in the battlefield of the occupied West Bank but now they must face the additional indignity of having the Israeli army occupy their house. The army gets the second floor(under no circumstances are the family to venture there) and the family must stay downstairs. After dark, they are confined to the living room. For the father, Mohammed, a learned, dignified man, being a refugee would be worse and he insists on staying.[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]"Private" is a tense drama with realistic situations. The film boils the whole Arab-Israeli conflict down to a microcosm of a single house being occupied. Through the character of the father, other ways are suggested of fighting the Israeli army than violence. And the individual soldiers are not shown as being the villains.[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Georgia][color=navy]In "Down to the Bone", Irene(Vera Farmiga) is a mother to two young sons and wife to a construction worker. She works as a cashier at a supermarket in upstate New York. She is also addicted to cocaine. And she has been using since high school. After one particularly embarrassing attempt to buy drugs fails, she realizes she needs help and enters rehab.[/color][/font] [font=Georgia][color=#000080][/color][/font] [font=Georgia][color=#000080]"Down to the Bone" covers some familiar ground but does so in a totally unglamorous way. The movie does not offer any easy answers or solutions. The movie is anchored by a very strong performance by Vera Farmiga.[/color][/font]

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Private (2004)

Critic Reviews

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Walter M

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