November 15, 2023
FILM: THREE PROMISES
DIRECTED BY: YOUSEF SROUJI
RATING: 3 ½ out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
Israel and Palestine are currently in the midst of a terrible, terrible war. Yet the conflict between the nations is nothing new. Yousef Srouji has directed a project which compiles videos his mother Suha took in the early 2000s when Palestine was being bombed by the Israeli military. His film Three Promises doesn’t delve into who is right or who is wrong but rather how the fighting was effecting his own family and how they persevered.
Suha kept the camera rolling whenever bombs were in the distance or even when they appeared right outside the family’s home. It’s interesting how calm she is during these terrifying moments. What was she specifically trying to capture? It’s hard to see many of the bombs in the distance since the video footage is a bit primitive by today’s standards. Yet, what is most interesting is how Yousef and his sister Dima were reacting. Both, at various times, would plead with their mother to go down to the basement of the building where they were living with their father Ramzi. Young Yousef comes across as very pragmatic and logical in his desire to head to safety. Dima, the older of the two siblings, is often quite frightened and in tears.
The “promises” of the film’s title refer to the three times Suha said to a God (and she professes she was never really religious) that she’d leave the country if the destruction continued. Yet, she had to go through this terror three times before actually making that move. Was she being optimistic? Foolish? None of this is answered. Rather Three Promises only aims to document what the whole experience was like for the family.
When they lain in the basement while fighting drew near, we can hear the sounds get louder. It’s hard not to think of the Oscar-winning Best Picture of 1942, Mrs. Miniver where the family similarly sits in a shelter trying to maintain a sense of normalcy while Britain was being invaded and bombed by Germans. In that case, they tried to ignore what was happening. Here, the family can’t stop focusing on it. Does this suggest that we are more realistic in the 21st Century about that which might be threatening our safety? Has Palestine and the rest of the region around them endured so much bombing that it is a way of life that is never to be ignored?
Interestingly, Suha kept this footage away from her children for fifteen years before showing it again and allowing Yousef to make his memoir film. What propels her do to so at this point is not clear. As Yousef and his mother return to Palestine in the 2020s, it’s hard not to imagine just what they are NOW experiencing in the current war with Israel and if they are still recording their seemingly calm reactions to something that has become far too commonplace in their world.
Three Promises is currently streaming as part of DOC NYC through November 26th on the festival’s website. For tickets, go to https://www.docnyc.net/film/three-promises/
FILM: THREE PROMISES
DIRECTED BY: YOUSEF SROUJI
RATING: 3 ½ out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
Israel and Palestine are currently in the midst of a terrible, terrible war. Yet the conflict between the nations is nothing new. Yousef Srouji has directed a project which compiles videos his mother Suha took in the early 2000s when Palestine was being bombed by the Israeli military. His film Three Promises doesn’t delve into who is right or who is wrong but rather how the fighting was effecting his own family and how they persevered.
Suha kept the camera rolling whenever bombs were in the distance or even when they appeared right outside the family’s home. It’s interesting how calm she is during these terrifying moments. What was she specifically trying to capture? It’s hard to see many of the bombs in the distance since the video footage is a bit primitive by today’s standards. Yet, what is most interesting is how Yousef and his sister Dima were reacting. Both, at various times, would plead with their mother to go down to the basement of the building where they were living with their father Ramzi. Young Yousef comes across as very pragmatic and logical in his desire to head to safety. Dima, the older of the two siblings, is often quite frightened and in tears.
The “promises” of the film’s title refer to the three times Suha said to a God (and she professes she was never really religious) that she’d leave the country if the destruction continued. Yet, she had to go through this terror three times before actually making that move. Was she being optimistic? Foolish? None of this is answered. Rather Three Promises only aims to document what the whole experience was like for the family.
When they lain in the basement while fighting drew near, we can hear the sounds get louder. It’s hard not to think of the Oscar-winning Best Picture of 1942, Mrs. Miniver where the family similarly sits in a shelter trying to maintain a sense of normalcy while Britain was being invaded and bombed by Germans. In that case, they tried to ignore what was happening. Here, the family can’t stop focusing on it. Does this suggest that we are more realistic in the 21st Century about that which might be threatening our safety? Has Palestine and the rest of the region around them endured so much bombing that it is a way of life that is never to be ignored?
Interestingly, Suha kept this footage away from her children for fifteen years before showing it again and allowing Yousef to make his memoir film. What propels her do to so at this point is not clear. As Yousef and his mother return to Palestine in the 2020s, it’s hard not to imagine just what they are NOW experiencing in the current war with Israel and if they are still recording their seemingly calm reactions to something that has become far too commonplace in their world.
Three Promises is currently streaming as part of DOC NYC through November 26th on the festival’s website. For tickets, go to https://www.docnyc.net/film/three-promises/