Customer Reviews

Amreeka

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Amreeka" is a masterpiece: heartbreaking, moving, complex, fierce, tender. Extraordinary writing, sublime acting, and haunting visual and aural landscapes. This work brings to one of the most tragic situations in contemporary history a most sophisticated, generous moral imagination: outrage, understanding, anguish, humor.

"Amreeka" will transform every viewer's percepts. Please see it.

As there is so little responsible, empathic depictions of Arabs and especially Palestinians in the current media, this movie is a breath of fresh air. It accurately and endearingly shows the adjustment struggle of an Arab family to North America. I thought the high school scenes were poignant reminders of how high school classes need to be taught as if they were representations of the outside/"real" world - not free for all zones where you can say anything and not be held responsible! Everyone needs to learn "civilised" behavior,or else we all pay the consequences. I liked that they spoke real Arabic in Amreeka - did you know that alot of Hollywood Arabic is just gobeltygook? How disrespectful! Maybe we can start actually seeing Arabs in film as people, and not the stereotype that gives us permission to project our disowned feelings onto - what a concept! This movie moves us forward!

For someone who grew up in the West Bank and moved to Illinois, I was amazed at how accurate this film is and how it included so many little details that were right on the money. This movie was able to capture so many emotions and the humanity of this entire experience. Honestly, I have never seen anything so close to my experience. This essentially is the story of my life. This accurately describes my experience and journey from the West Bank to Chicago.

This is a movie about a middle-aged woman from Palestine whose husband has abandoned her and their teenage son. Realizing that her working life in Palestine is a dead-end, and worrying about her son's prospects for the future, she decides to move to America. Most of the movie is spent following the main character's life in the United States.

The characters are absolutely believable. Bravo to the actors, old and young, who brought these characters to life. The writing avoids the obvious stereotypes which plague Hollywood productions, and provides a rich mixture of humor and drama. Obviously, the situation in Palestine is a foundation for this movie, but other themes are well-explored: being middle-aged and underestimated by others, the tribulations of adolescence, and the difficulties faced by anyone who finds themselves in a new homeland.

The one failing of this movie (and the only thing preventing me from giving it 5 stars) is that its plot has a beginning and a middle, but no end. The final scene fades to black, as though we might tune in next week to find out what happens next, but then... the credits roll.

Amreeka is a charming film about the modern Arab immigrant experience. Built around a cast of well imagined and sensitively portrayed characters and set in the initial days of the US invasion of Iraq, it follows a Palestinian mother and her teenage son as they learn to sort through the problems typical of many immigrants - loss of a support network, dependence on locals or established immigrants, the inability to transfer qualifications and skills, and indifference or even hostility from members of the host culture. The experience is exacerbated in Amreeka by the ethnic chauvinism fomented and unleashed in the run-up to the Bush-Cheney invasion - a threatening note left in a mailbox, canceled contracts, disappearing customers, as well as verbal and physical intimidation. Bitter as that experience was, and as tempting as it may have been to lecture, the director never falls into polemicizing but stays focused on the characters. One of the mother's unexpected sources of friendship and help in navigating her new world is a Polish Jew. Practically speaking a one-woman production from writer-director Cherien Dabis, Amreeka is a lovely film that falls flat only in the end. It seems the story does not so much reach a conclusion as it does to simply end, leaving you with the impression there may have been more to tell.

What happens when your life is turned upside down by your husband divorcing you for a slimmer, younger woman and walls are built around where you live adding hours every day to your commute to work and you spend every penny to keep your son in a private school? You take the first best opportunity that comes along to get out of that situation. Muna, a Palestinian single woman, does just that when she receives an offer to relocate free to America. This begins the adventures and misadventures of someone immigrating to America with the hopes and promises of a better life. She lands in a small town in Illinois to live (temporarily is the plan) with her sister and physician husband and teenage children until she can establish herself and son. She has two degrees and has had professional experience in the work world so it shouldn't take long - wrong! Told with humor as well as heartbreak (it's just after 9/11and anyone from the Middle East is the enemy), this National Geographic film is a reminder of why people still come to AMREEKA and how easy it is to be misunderstood and to struggle to make a living no matter how hard you are willing to work. It is worth watching by families whose children may be finding it difficult to accept those who don't talk or dress or act just like us. Changing schools as an American teenager can be very difficult. Try coming from another country, especially one we see as an adversary. Highly recommend.

Amreeka, a poignant story of a Palestinian woman and her son struggling to adapt to being Palestinian in America, is one of the best films of 2009. Nisreen Faour is flawless as the lead character, Muna. Her portrayal will make you laugh, as well as want to cry with her. Cherien Dabis has made a masterpiece.

"Amreeka" is credible, secular, and "realistic" in the sense that it looks at the surface of their struggles and the meeting of cultures without attempting a profound and nuanced exploration of individual characters. It is more like a news report than it is like poetry--except for the music.

The ending caught me by surprise; I wish the director had slowed things down more to show each person reflecting, taking stock of where they were.

English subtitles appear during the Arabic language passages.

"Amreeka" is first rate for Americans who want to meet the new neighbors.

A subtle, sensitive and sometimes humourous look at a range of relationships and issues around migration, racism, gender and generation... This is a well acted piece that flows through the story of a woman and her son migrating from Palestine to the US... just in time for the outbreak of war in Iraq and the ensuing racist response.
Coming from Australia, I recognised much of the story in the stories of migrants and refugees I have known who have tried hard to resettle in a new country... the obstacles are countless, for young and old, but determination and love makes it possible.
I sought this video out because I had seen the film at a festival and I want to encourage others to watch it!

The previous reviewers (Peter & Amos) pretty much covered it in their reviews. This film has all the charm, warmth, and humor of "Big Fat Greek Wedding," but it also has more depth. Buy the DVD, watch it, then watch it again and again with friends and family and discuss it. Then take action: "You must be the change you want to see in this world."