It Must Be Heaven - What should a Palestinian film look like?

Cinema World Tour, Film #77
Country: Palestine 

Rating: 8/10

Watched in: Zawya Cinema, Cairo, Egypt

What should a palestinian film look like? That's the central question of Elia Suleiman's beautiful film It Must Be Heaven. A french film producer tells him in the film itself that his script for this film is not "palestinian" enough. The story "could take place anywhere" and "doesn't concentrate enough on the palestinian cause". Suleiman, in response to stereotypes towards Palestine, makes this wonderfully absurd, weird and funny film, an absolutely refreshing perspective on Middle East and the state of Palestine itself. Suleiman's concept is as simple as it is ingenious: he turns the question around and asks: well, if a palestinian film is supposed to look like this from a westener's perspective (for example what we normally expect: violence, border proplems with Israel, poverty, Islam), what would France and USA look like from a palestinian perspective?
In hilarious, strange scenes in the style of Wes Anderson's filmography he tells the story how he himself travels to Paris and New York and portrays it with all the stereotypes you could imagine: the exaggerated police in France, the empty streets on 14th of July, everyone in the United States having a gun, the female activist in Central Park being chased by six policemen and everyone going crazy on Halloween. These extremely satirical and funny scenes are not only masterfully shot, but take the french film producer's complaint ad absurdum: a palestinian film isn't supposed to be just violence and conflict. That's simply not the real Palestine. The same way as France is not only Macron's crazy police and the United States not only guny and Halloween.
Instead, Suleiman introduces us to HIS Palestine: a beautiful, pictoresque country full of humble, normal people. A neighbour stealing his citrons in the most friendly way, another old neighbour telling him absurd stories of his hunting trips, a lady with a very strange technique of carrying two water buckets and young people just dancing in a club to good music.
The official synopsis of the film is that „he escpaes from Palestine seeking an alternative homeland, only to find that Palestine is trailing behind him“. That Suleiman actually wants to leave Palestine because he doesn't like the bad vibes there. Maybe this is the plot at the beginning, but I strongly disagree that this is Suleiman's point. Instead, he portrays his homeland with so much charme and love for it that it can only mean in my eyes that the message of the film is to tell the world how misportrayed Palestine is in international films, that this country has way more to offer than just a conflict with Israel.
Watching It Must be Heaven is a pure delight. Elia Suleiman doesn't only prove that he is a fantastic, super charming actor but also that he has a very strong cinematic vision, together with his DP Sofian El Fani (who shot Timbuktu and Blue is the Warmest Colour) he creates shots of incredible visual poetry. I loved for example the scene when he sits for the first time in a Parisian café and simply watches the passing people, following especially women in stylish fashion with his eyes. Unlike many other reviewers write, I don't think this is a sexist montage. It's simply an admiration of beauty, shot in an even more beautiful way. There are many of those beautiful touching scenes in the film, in which little details get highlighted. Whether it's him giving shelter to a little bird, remembering a thief's plastic bag under a parked car (but not going to look inside), the many drinks and contemplative cigarettes. Not to forget the oustanding soundtrack of this, it is so good that I waited until the end of the credits just to note down all the songs used in It Must Be Heaven. I highly recommend this film to everyone out there who wants to see something beautiful, quiet (E.S. literally speaks four words in the whole film) and refreshing. And especially to everyone who thinks that a palestinian film MUST include violence and war.