

Director: Eran Riklis
Cast: Clara Khoury, Hiam Abbass

The official website (in English)
see
http://www.syrianbride.com/english.html

My thoughts ...

What is good ...

- The performance delivered by the two female protagonists (the sister and the bride) ... to some audience, the sister might even steal the limelight from the bride ... 

hence, it makes me wonder if "The Syrian Bride" actually refers to ALL the "wives"/females in the film ...

e.g., the main protagonist (i.e., the bride)
e.g., her sister ... a typical "Syrian" bride (because they identified themselves with Syrians) ... who keeps her silence in the past ... but is now willing to break free ...
e.g., the brother's Russian wife ... the "Syrian" bride that could not be (because she has to be accepted as a "Syrian") ...
e.g., the defiant daughter ... the girl who was in love with someone her father was against ...
e.g., all the girls whom the brother has "flirted" with ... but will never be his "Syrian" bride ...

While some audience may find the stories of these women to be very real, some may criticize the script for trying to cramp all possibilities into one film and one family ... i am okay with it though ... 

-- The second half of the film is rather engaging, with the audience wondering what will happen, and how the film will end ...

-- It tries to cover lots of issues ...
e.g., political
e.g., social and family
e.g., feminist
etc

In essence, it deals with oppression and compromise at many levels ... at the individual level, social level and international level ...


What could be better ...

- In order to fully appreciate all the subtleties in the film (because a lot of things are not explained but inferred), an audience would have to possess some knowledge about the history/ or events/ or culture/ or feelings etc ... otherwise, the film would not be as impactful ... one would not feel as much as the characters ...

- The first half of the film could be more engaging ... it did have a lot of messages ... but they were not dramatic/compelling enough ... those who like "daily life" as it is might like the film better ... while those who prefer events/emotions might find the first half less coherent and not too fast pace ... the film is more "engaging" when the bride is stranded at the border ...

Conclusion
Recommended. An ambitious film with lots of subtle messages (some of which are lost if one does not know enough). Honestly, I do not profess to know many of them too ... * guilty * ... The second half of the film when the bride is stranded between the two borders is more compelling.