Recensioni de* critic*

As a director, Adler sometimes seems as if he'd be more comfortable working in television—Bethlehem has a generic, purely functional look, and its narrative, while consistently intelligent and compelling, feels as if it's been compressed from several episodes of a first-rate drama series. (The surrogate father-son relationship between Razi and Sanfur, upon which the climax depends, is given short shrift.) His work with actors, however, is little short of miraculous.

If [it] feels somewhat different and better than others that touch on similar themes, it's because the director Yuval Adler and his screenwriting partner... aren't selling the usual lessons in the usual way. "Bethlehem" is emphatically political, as perhaps any movie about warring Israelis and Palestinians must be. Yet its ideas are more complex than is suggested by either its schematic story or fast-moving genre elements, like its running and fighting men, its racing cars and firing guns.

The film has plenty of propulsive drive, and the complicated betrayal storyline is handled with clarity. But Adler lacks Abu-Assad's skill at giving the people the movie sympathizes with a set of true, deep flaws... The finale is quite effective, but this movie overall isn't as tough as Razi.

Refusing to take sides or vilify his characters, Adler finds the humanity in all parties — the film shows us the moving funeral of a Palestinian militant but also depicts Israeli soldiers who, in the course of simply trying to do their jobs, get pelted with rocks. The film suggests that there can be no equanimity when neither prideful side is willing to abandon even a trace of skepticism about the other...

Densely plotted by director Yuval Adler and Ali Wakad (the former Israeli, the latter Palestinian), this informant crime drama finds admirable complexity in the folds of its shifting allegiances—even if you've seen this dynamic done better in movies like The Departed... Adler dips into Bourne-like chase sequences and introduces a raft of supporting voices (political spokesmen, dirty cops, suicide bombers), but the meat of his movie is the personal bond between the two main characters.

Internecine struggles among the various Palestinian factions and parties—and the deadly cloak-and-dagger games woven deep into domestic life in the occupied territories—are revealed in fascinating and harrowing detail. Meanwhile, Israeli officials appear as apolitical technocrats whose efficiency is threatened, above all, by their irrepressible warmth and humanistic sentiments. The suspense plot is effective yet familiar; the direction is brisk, even hasty, and impersonal.

Because it's inspired by real conflict, it requests the charge and import that comes from speaking to current events, but because it's not actually about those events, it also has a tendency to play fast and loose with the material for entertainment's sake while disclaiming a responsibility to actually "say" anything... There are certainly thrilling moments, and hints of an incisive conversation to be had; it's just that this film won't be a part of it.

Why is Sanfur leaking information to Razi? That's one piece of a complex puzzle, and Adler's brisk style keeps you guessing: whose side are we on? ...From the very first scene there's no doubt things cannot end well. Perhaps the pace, punctuated by shocking acts of violence, is too rapid. Unpacked, Bethlehem could easily spread out over an entire TV season, but it's refreshing to be reminded how much can be accomplished in a mere 99 minutes.