Critic Reviews

• Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel

  The visual puns, sight gags and the little parables told by the few speaking characters are rarely laugh-out-loud funny. But they provoke thought, debate and diverse interpretations.

• Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News

  It makes for an intriguing example of how to use art, rather than bombs, to make a sustained political point.

• Ty Burr, Boston Globe

  Simmering, sharply observed work.

• Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

  Suleiman's argument seems to be that the situation between Palestinians and Israelis has settled into an hopeless stalemate, in which everyday life incorporates elements of paranoia, resentment and craziness.

• Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune

  A film whose eerie blend of deadpan wit and inner angst upset all your expectations.

• Joe Baltake, Sacramento Bee

  It succeeds because Suleiman applies the same kind of minimalism and silent comedy that made Tati's films ... always so winning.

• Jordan Hiller, Bangitout.com

  Elia Suleiman is a talented man who made a striking film to voice the sorrows of his people and there are sorrows to be lamented, but his film is drawn from an ugliness and intellectual dishonesty that besmirches any lesson that could possibly be extracte

• Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

  A mordantly amusing black comedy about life among the Arab citizens of Israel.

• James Plath, Movie Metropolis

  Suleiman's film is uniquely engaging, a visual feast-though how emotionally or intellectually satisfying it is will depend on how each viewer responds to the images.

• Jules Brenner, Cinema Signals

  Life in the Arab-Israeli region has a random and arbitrary unintelligibility, if this surreal stylization validly reflects it. But, validity comes into question.

• James Emanuel Shapiro, Reel.com

  This film has the rare opportunity to change people's minds about the world. I can think of no higher praise for art.

• Philip Martin, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

  ...a non-narrative film that mixes agitprop with Pythonesque silliness and an almost stately, rueful kind of slapstick that recalls Buster Keaton in tone if not physicality.

• Enrique Buchichio, Uruguay Total

  El director hilvana sensaciones, alegorías, representaciones más bien absurdas, e inspiradas en el cine mudo o la comedia física de Buster Keaton o Jacques Tati.

• Jurgen Fauth, About.com

  Suleiman works in slow, poetic scenes that build to hilarious climaxes.

• Duane Dudek, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

  Provocative yet self-reflective, hilarious yet heartbreaking chronicle of love and pain.

• Eric D. Snider, EricDSnider.com

  A hard film to get, but an enjoyable one to watch.

• Jeff Vice, Deseret News, Salt Lake City

  As the film progresses, it becomes considerably more focused . . . even though it doesn't always make sense.

• Sean Means, Salt Lake Tribune

  Some of Suleiman's symbols are maddeningly obtuse, while others -- like the final shot of a pressure cooker -- are ridiculously obvious.

• Laura Kelly, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

  From the first scenes -- a sorry-looking Santa huffing and puffing his way up a hill to flee a gang of Palestinian youths -- Divine Intervention intercedes to offer the most unexpected of film experiences.

• Shawn Levy, Oregonian

  Elusive but fascinating.

Read all 21 critic reviews