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'A Wedding in Ramallah' follows Bassam and Mariam as the get married and move to the U.S.
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Wedding in Ramallah
Sherine
Salama, Israel, 2002, 90 min
What
binds people together in matrimony? For one Muslim Palestinian
couple in Ramallah, the answer lies in a tragicomic, naïve,
resigned, frustrated and ultimately elusive journey from an arranged
marriage to an uneasy conclusion in America. A Wedding in
Ramallah, which made its U.S. debut at the Margaret Mead Film
Festival in New York last week, asks the question: Is it really
“and they lived happily ever after”?
Director
Sherine Salama travels to Ramallah amidst escalating
Israeli-Palestinian violence to make a simple wedding film. But she
gets much more in return. In following the story of Bassam, a
45-year-old Palestinian returning from America to find a bride, and
Mariam, a 25-year-old native dreaming of a good man and a wonderful
life in America, Salama finds a microcosm of family politics, love
and faith against the backdrop of continuing bloodshed.
The
film, chosen by the American Museum of Natural History as its
prestigious opening night movie, is another example of the growing
interest in dramas and documentaries with Islamic themes, or at
least Muslim protagonists. A Wedding in Ramallah doesn’t
specifically focus on Islamic themes, but rather allows its
memorable characters to weave a compelling story with faith as a
backdrop.
Bassam,
a telephone repairman living in Cleveland, wounded by one failed
marriage (when he married for love), travels to Palestine and
decides to try an arranged marriage. But with only a few short weeks
for the search, his pickings are slim.
Fortunately,
Mariam (who at 25 is in danger of becoming an old maid by her
family’s standards) agrees to the marriage. The promise of a good
man who will take care of her in America is all she wants. Love,
which is a matter of faith in Allah, will come in time, she
believes.
The
courtship is brief and awkward. Nary a smile is exchanged between
the two – their first outing alone (for him to buy the requisite
gold jewelry for her) is a sweet but painful exchange of fleeting
glances and extended silent moments. Salama excels at letting the
camera linger without forced dialogue. A scene where the couple
stops for coffee speaks volumes for the uncertainty they feel. The
silence between them seems infinite.
Yet
there is something that drives them towards each other. For Western
audiences, this is extremely hard to grasp and at times seems truly
absurd. Yet for those who’ve had arranged marriages, there is an
undefined quality they can relate to. They trust their families’
choices and believe in staying together at all costs. For once a
Muslim couple gets married, they should stay married, Bassam and
Mariam say.
It’s
a concept that may astonish a Western audience, for whom love is
all-important and patience is often lost to a “me” mentality.
Bassam and Mariam, and Bassam’s older brother Moussa and his wife
Sinora, follow a different path where relationships can be strained
and frustrating but also meant to last.
A
Wedding in Ramallah also portrays a wry comic side by
highlighting the friendship between Mariam and Sinora, who lean on
each other through their husbands’ absences, prolonged visa
troubles, and an old-fashioned mother-in-law trying her best to
guard their reputations. Sinora is the “bad seed” who dares to
do things without her husband’s permission, like purchasing a
mobile phone.
Her
life, perhaps, is the oddest paradox of brief moments of
assertiveness coupled with a passionate attachment to her husband.
Moussa, however, comes across as a bitter, uncaring man burned by a
previous love marriage. (His first wife left him poor and took their
three children.) Moussa leaves Sinora in Ramallah, refusing to do
the paperwork for her visa. He comes for infrequent visits and
spends much of those visits grumbling at her behavior.
But
Sinora won’t entertain the idea of a divorce. He is her husband,
and more importantly, she wants to go to America. America beckons
these women like a proverbial “heaven on earth.” But Mariam, who
eventually gets her wish and goes to America, soon learns otherwise.
This
is where Salama’s cinematic choices shine through. Instead of
concluding the documentary with a happy ending, Salama continues the
story. For life doesn’t get easier, only different. Mariam faces a
sequestered life in her apartment awaiting a husband who comes home
to eat dinner while watching wrestling. It’s an absurd kind of
happiness. It comes down to choices – and sticking to them.
A
Wedding in Ramallah is very mild, with only a few obscenities and
mildly risqué discussions. The documentary will air across the
United States with the traveling Margaret Mead Film Festival. For
more information, visit www.amnh.org.
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