In Between (Bar Bahar)
(Israel/France, 103 min.)
Written and directed by Maysaloun Hamoud
Starring: Mouna Hawa, Sana Jammelieh, Shaden Kanboura, Henry
Andrawes, Mahmud Shalaby
Discover a voice in writer/director Maysaloun Hamoud. Her
feature debut In Between is a welcome
drama about Arab women negotiating love and independence within a
male-dominated society. Set in the Arab quarters of Israel, In Between presents three women who are
outsiders among outsiders in a world wrestling with change. It’s a bold and funny
tale of female friendship and women’s rights.
In Between is the story of the story of two roommates enjoying their independence in Tel Aviv. Laila (Mouna Hawa) is a smart lawyer by day and the life of the party at night, while Salma (Sana Jammelieh) is a shy bartender who aspires to be a DJ and find love outside of the arranged marriages her parents are planning. The two women live it up at rowdy parties where they put their drinks up, snort cocaine, and dance the night away with men, women, friends, and lovers. Hamoud fearlessly presents an image of Arab women that we don’t commonly see: these girls break taboos and defy convention.
Enter Noor (Shaden Kanboura), the conservative hijab-wearing
cousin of their roommate who arrives to sublet her space. Noor embodies the
image into which women have traditionally been framed in this patriarchal society.
She’s a shy teetotaler and non-smoker who prays as often as Laila swears. She’s
weary of these carefree liberal women and she’s not afraid to let them know she
disapproves.
While the three women couldn’t be more different, they
encounter a shared struggle against a system that insists they play the part of
subservient wives. Laila meets a hunky, coke-sniffing, self-described liberal
who reveals himself less progressive than he claims as their relationship
develops. Salma undergoes a newfound sexual awakening that brings shame to her
parents. Noor, finally, seems content to please her fiancé Wissam (Henry
Andrawes) and play the dutiful wife, yet her roommates open her eyes to new
experiences. She becomes more open-minded and contemporary, to which Wissam
responds violently.
Hamoud draws three strong performances from her actresses
who honour the lives and experiences of these women. Hawa has extraordinary
screen presence and is a fiery power as Laila, a woman who is equally sexy and
smart—and not the least bit afraid to use either trait to stand up to men.
Kanboura gives a performance of quiet dignity as Noor and her strong character
arc offers a humble woman who blossoms
and sees her colours for the first time. Salma is a bit more limited a role
than the other two are, but Jammelieh invests an earnest hunger in the
character who yearns for a world where she can simply love openly and freely.
The three leads are rich and dynamic representations for women whose
experiences are only getting such nuanced characterizations for the first time.
They provide strong metaphors for a society that wrestles with its own identity
and traditions in a world that moves at a different pace and insists that women
have the right to do more.
One wishes that a similar level of care went into crafting
the male characters of the film, however, since nearly every man in the film is
an awful one-dimensional pig. (Noor’s compassionate father is the only
redeemable male in the film.) More balance might have let the film soar even
higher, but this drama is all about the women. As a tale about the lives of
girls and women, though, In Between
is a necessary discovery.
In Between is opens in Toronto at Cineplex Canada Square on Feb.
16.
