Low morale with Miral

Miral
Starring: Freida Pinto, Hiam Abbass, Alexander Siddig, Willem Dafoe
Director: Julian Schnabel
Rating: 3 (out of 5)

Summary: On her way to work, Hind Husseini (Hiam Abbass) comes across 55 orphan children wandering in the street. Unwilling to walk away, she takes them home to give them food and shelter . Within six months, those 55 have grown to almost 2000, and Hind transforms her family's house into the Dar Al-Tifl Al-Arabi Institute...

The Diving Bell and The Butterfly director Julian Schnabel makes a rare misfire with Miral, although visually the story is arresting and the acting bound to gain plaudits come awards season, politically the film has an agenda which doesn't sit well with the overarching theme of education being the key component of cultural harmony.

Hiam Abbass's Yoda like performance as Jind Husseini, imparting wisdom and safety to her ever increasing number of lost school children, holds the film together for the first 40 minutes. Her mission to educate in extremely trying historical and political circumstances is so feel good and inspirational that it manages to make Willem Dafoe seem cuddly. The story, slow burning and compelling, begins to take a turn for the worse when the conflict becomes more aggressive and the politics of both sides become more ingrained in the minds of the young people who struggle to understand the strength of the violence around them.

Schnabel shoots the film with all the care and attention the subject matter deserves, showing the beauty of the region and the people whilst also not pulling away from the full horror that they are faced with daily - Israeli soldiers and tanks violently breaking up a makeshift street English class being a scene that beautifully plays out - but unfortunately he is let down by an adaptation that eventually falls under the weight of its own convoluted narrative structure and is unsure in which direction to take the story.

This lack of focus is evident in the character development of Miral, played by the ever radiant Frieda Pinto. Even though her political activism and the resulting mental and physical brutality is told in detail, her background and family life is rushed through quickly and not afforded the same care. The story of her Mother is undercooked, with her being in prison one minute and then marrying and cheating on her new husband the next. Also the choices of her Father to keep certain facts and truths from her is again played out almost begrudgingly.

As proceedings move away from the school and into the murky world of politics, Miral makes all the wrong choices, picks the wrong allies and despite the films assertion that education is key to disarming fanaticism, Schnabel doesn't appear to have the same idea - spending most of his time creating a thriller that doesn't sit well with the stirring opening half. Of course, as the reality of the political situation moves through the decades there are bound to be shifts in tone but Hiam Abbass's performance is so pitch perfect that moving her to second fiddle is a misstep.

The Israeli conflict contains so many tragic and uplifting personal stories that it's a shame that Miral starts off as riveting, low key stuff and then turns into political grand standing for the final reel. Colours are certainly tied to masts by those involved and the final scenes of broken agreements and two faced politicians leaves a bad taste in the mouth of a film which, just like the bureaucrats, promised so much but most of the time fails to deliver.

OUT 3rd December