Miral

I'll leave it to others to discuss the controversy surrounding Miral. I'd rather talk about how it is an interesting movie with good acting.

Based partially on the life of writer Rula Jebreal, think of Miral as the story of several generations of women with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as a backdrop. Hiam Abbass stars as Hind Husseini - a Palestinian who starts a home and school for orphans after finding 55 children hiding from a military clash in 1948. Throughout the course of several decades, we see the various people aided by Husseini, and her efforts to keep the school out of the political and military battle that wages on around them.

One of these young people is Miral (Frieda Pinto), who gets involved in the PLO and brings more attention to the school and her family than many want.

Pinto and Abbass are fantastic. Pinto does a wonderful job capturing the spirit and immaturity of a 14-year old girl wrapped up in passion both for the young man who inspires her, and her cause. We feel her pain when the character loses those close to her, and the determination she feels to move forward with actions she believes to be necessary. It's a mix of childishness and determination not many can pull off.

Meanwhile Abbass is able to play Husseini as she grows older in a way that feels real and not forced. We see the wisdom come through the character, as well as the compassion and love she feels for the children under her care.

At times, director Julian Schnabel needs to focus more, and tries to get a bit too artsy with some of the shots (we don't need the big blurry effect we get at one key moment), but deftly handles multiple stories and characters without losing any of them along the way.

Some will be enraged by the stand taken by Schnabel and Jebreal, but they claim this is her story, so you know with which side their sympathies lie.

Miral is rated PG-13 for thematic material, and some violent content including a sexual assault.