Product Details

• Actors: Amos Lavie, Makram Khoury, Hiam Abbass, Ali Suliman, Smadar Yaaron
• Directors: Eran Riklis
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: Hebrew
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO
• DVD Release Date: November 3, 2009
• Run Time: 106 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B002M36R50
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #24,629 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Lemon Tree" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Studio: Mpi Home Video Release Date: 11/03/2009 Run time: 106 minutes Rating: Nr

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Goals Are Acheived Only If You Draw Boundaries", October 23, 2009

By 

Brian E. Erland "BEE" (Brea, CA - USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lemon Tree (DVD)

Note: Presented in Hebrew with English subtitles.

Summary: The 2008 Israeli film 'Lemon Tree' stars the alluring Hiam Abbass in the role of Salma Zidane a Palestinian widow struggling to maintain her home and lemon tree orchard against the encroachment of her new neighbor Israel Naron (Doron Tavory), the Israeli Prime Minister. The high ranking official sees the orchard as an imminent danger to his families safety, a place where terrorist and snipers can move freely about hidden behind the foliage. Within a matter of days a fence and imposing guard towers rise between the two properties robbing Salma of her privacy and personal space. If that wasn't enough problems escalate to the point where the continued existence of the lemon trees are threatened. Using his political power and influence the Prime Minister plans to have the orchard destroyed thus threatening Salma's only source of income. Can one lone Palestinian woman fight and defeat the "Powers that Be" while maintaining her dignity and self reliance in a male dominated society?

Critique: 'Lemon Tree' explores one of the most reoccurring themes in Israeli films, the theme of boundaries. The lemon tree orchard symbolizes more than just a physical buffer between hostile neighbors. It is a boundary between rich and poor, the powerful and the powerless, Jew and Arab, male and female. While the storyline moves along rather slowly the introspective nature of the film more than makes up for the pace. As the viewer gains deeper and deeper glimpses into the lives and concerns of both households one begins to sympathize not only with Salma but with Mira (Rona Lipaz-Michael), the Prime Minister's wife who finds herself torn between the opposing positions of the two rivals.

I'm a big fan of Hiam Abbass and as always she delivers a stellar performance. She's strong, defiant and determined while at the same time exuding an aura of sensitivity, vulnerability and feminism that is irresistible. Well worth a watch or two. Another film you might enjoy if you like this one is 'The Syrian Bride'.

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Do walls protect us or cage us in?, November 29, 2009

By 

Jaroslav Melgr "jaroski" (Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lemon Tree (DVD)

This is a great and thought-provoking movie with great cast. It is centered in the occupied West Bank where a newly appointed Israeli minister of defense purchased home next to a lemon orchard. The orchard is owned by a Palestinian widow Salma (played by Hiam Abbass) who is struggling to make ends meet. Once the minister moves in, the secret service starts to assess the security situation around the minister's residence. The orchard is an immediate security liability as it could provide cover for attackers and terrorists. First a fence with a guard tower is put in place and soon after the order is issued to cut down the orchard.

Once Salma receives the news, she is distraught yet defiant. She is determined to fight the decision in Israeli courts. She is fortunate enough to find an upstart lawyer who is willing to help her fight the decision in a military court. They stand no chance taking on the Israeli military in their own court and lose. Salma refuses to give up and appeals to the Israeli Supreme Court. As the young lawyer works with Salma, he comes to admire her defiant spirit and continues to helps her all the way through the Supreme Court hearings. They don't win, but achieve some concessions, which is a huge victory itself.

The wife of the defense minister, Mira, spends most of her time home either looking at the beautiful trees in the orchard or trying to explore her surroundings and find some company while ironically trying to get away from the security service folks who are there to protect her. Moving to the West Bank exposes Mira to a new view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. All of a sudden, it's her family and her home that's invading someone's privacy and threatening someone's existence - namely to Salma and her orchard. Mira begins to quietly sympathize with Salma and her plight and starts questioning her husband's actions. When Mira tries to bring up the subject of cutting down the orchard with her husband he seems to have no patience or sympathy for the plight of a Palestinian widow.

When she finds out that the orchard is to be cut down she asks "does Israel know no limits?" This play on words (Mira's husband's first name is Israel like the name of the country) seems to be the central idea of the whole movie and the crux of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The question is, what's a proper way to provide security for Israelis (the terrorist threats are certainly real and need to be dealt with) while preserving decent living and dignity for ordinary Palestinians? Currently, the Israeli government is building a security barrier around the West Bank in hopes to achieve the former end. The film is presenting a poignant view of how this may irreversibly change the lives of the people on both sides of the barrier. Is erecting this wall between the two peoples the right solution? At the end of the movie, Mira leaves her husband and he ends up alone in his fancy home, secured by a concrete barrier with no view of Salma's orchard, most of which was cut down.

What I like about Eran Riklis' movies, either this one or the Syrian Bride, is that he takes a critical view at both sides of the conflict. Including criticism leveled at his own culture and people. In this movie he point a critical finger at some Palestinian men who are concerned about Salma's honor (since she's a widow and is meeting with a single guy, her lawyer), yet the completely ignore her poverty and plight. Instead of helping her with work in her orchard as good neighbors, they sit in a pub all day drinking, smoking, playing cards and complaining about the Israelis. Another level of criticism is represented in the character of the lawyer. While he's willing to help Salma, he's also a pretty good womanizer. He's engaged to a daughter of a high level Palestinian official, yet he's making moves on Salma. He was educated in Russia, where he married and had a daughter with a Russian woman. The implication is that they divorced due to his infidelity.

The only thing I'm not sure about is whether any Israeli politician would buy or build a house in the West Bank outside an official settlement? However, I still give the movie 5 stars as the movie addresses a critical idea of co-existence, tolerance and mutual respect that all of us, regardless of where we live, need to think about. Our world is getting increasingly more cosmopolitan with people of all backgrounds living side by side and unless we make it work, we could end up with wall built up all around us. I highly recommend this movie.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful, well-acted slice of Israeli/Palestinian life, December 22, 2009

By 

RMurray847 "afilmcritic.com" (Albuquerque, NM United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Lemon Tree (DVD)

THE LEMON TREE is a quiet, gentle film that tries to tackle a big subject in a fairly small manner. This Israeli film (in fact, it was co-funded by the Israeli film council) wants to illustrate the frustrating tensions between Israelis and Palestinians by having one fairly personal event stand-in for the entire conflict. Or at least, that's how audiences seem to want to see it. I choose to look at it as one example of how misunderstanding can be turned into stubborn intransigence by those cultural & political differences. No film can distill something as long-standing and complex as these issues into one story...but one film can certainly shed light.

Just barely on the Palestinian side of the West Bank, Salma Zidane (Hiam Abbass) leads a lonely, simple life trying to squeeze a living (pun intended, sorry) out of her small lemon orchard. It's hard work, and other than yielding very tasty lemonade, Salma gets little from her labors. However, these trees were planted by her father, and they are all her family really has connecting it to a past, to give a sense of place & pride. Salma's husband has died many years ago and her grown children are distant from her (her son lives in Washington DC and works as a busboy). She is lonely, but seems more or less at peace with her life and doesn't expect much from it.

One day, just on the Israeli side of the fence, the new Israeli Defense Minister decides to move in with his glamorous wife. One suspects that he has chosen this remote location at least in part to be freer to travel the country away from his wife, because he seems to have a bit of a wandering eye. No doubt, he also felt this location would make some sort of positive political statement. His security forces decide, however, that the neighboring lemon grove would make a good spot for terrorists to hide in and lob grenades without ever being spotted by the guards in the newly installed tower than hovers over Salma's land.

So Salma receives a letter, telling her that she'll be compensated for the fact that all her trees are about to be uprooted. Salma is appalled at the thought of losing her only source of income and her family's pride. So she actually finds a Palestinian attorney willing to take her case.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the fence, the Defense Minister's wife Mira takes an interest in the Lemon trees. She sees from her window the poor Palestinian woman who clings to her dignity, and seems to find herself wanting in comparison. As the case gains national notoriety, Mira finds herself torn in her loyalties.

I won't reveal more of the plot, because there isn't all that much of it. This is a four person story, and it delicately reveals shadings of character and feeling that eventually make us feel great sympathy for almost everyone. The Israeli minister is something of a cardboard character, but Mira, Salma and her attorney Ziad are all very flesh-and-blood people. Palestinian society precludes strong emotions from Salma, but the graceful Hiam Abbass (known to US audiences for THE VISITOR) gives us a smoldering performance hidden beneath the very placid demeanor. She says very little, yet her work is so open that we can virtually read her every thought. We take her journey very personally.

Very delicate relationships form, including a strange, wordless one between Mira and Salma and a surprisingly vibrant one between lawyer & client. While the movie follows an overall predictable David vs. Goliath track...the nuances of the journey are what make THE LEMON TREE a pleasure.

There are moments of humor (the best around a photo of Salma's husband) and there are occasional bursts of raw, unfettered emotion. All the actors do well, and while the movie is slow paced, it never drags.

My complaints are minor. The cinematography is mundane. I would have expected the lemon trees themselves to serve as more powerful symbols or to at least be filmed gorgeously, but both efforts fall flat. And just for English-speaking audiences, the subtitles provided are the most annoying kind. They are white and sometimes lost against white shirts. Why can't they be the usual yellow and placed at the bottom of the screen? I missed several lines of dialogue.

In the end, the film shows the politics in Israel as being too skewed towards keeping the military happy and less interested in the human side of the Palestinian issues. It also shows Palestinian patriarchy as contributing to the lack of progress of its people. Both sides show both good and bad. It's an even-handed film, and even though Israeli government funded, I'd say that the artists behind the movie were allowed a fairly free hand politically. I was glad to see that.

The film is unrated, but I believe would be a PG. There's no violence, no sex and if memory serves, little bad language. I would think, though, that kids would be bored. However, as an introduction to the concept of the age-old tensions in Israel, THE LEMON TREE might serve well.