For once,I thought that the American poster had got it just about right.It shows the two leading women,on either side of a white border,with an image of a lemon tree on it.

As I said on my earlier comment,I think the film has much to say about borders and divides in general.I mentioned male and female being one of them and I would like to take the point ,a little further.

It seems to me ,that the majority of men in the film, are against compromise.For example,the male,Israeli secret service,want the lemon grove destroyed.In the first trial,the male judge upholds this view and even one of the male Palestinian community leaders,warns Salma not to take the Israeli money,for the loss of her lemon grove.

On the other hand,Salma and Mira appear to understand each others position.The female journalist listens to both sides of the story and even the female judge,at the Israeli Supreme Court,offers some kind of compromise(even though it is not enough for salma).

There is one exception to the above and that is Salma’s “young” lawyer.He sees the Supreme Courts decision as progress and maybe this gives hope for the future.

The second poster that I found interesting,was the French one,which shows a lemon grove,with a watch tower looming over it.For me,this image had sinister overtones,which was re-inforced by a sequence in the film,when Salma finds Israeli soldiers,taking her lemons(symbolic for the land). During the struggle that ensues,Salma is knocked to the ground by the armed soldiers and proceeds to throw lemons at the onlooking Israeli Defence Minister and his party guests.A further struggle,between Salma and the soldiers follows,before she is allowed to get up and walk towards the fence,separating the grove from her neighbours home.

These images,remind me of those terrible photos,of Jews being beaten by Nazis soldiers and standing behind concentration camp fences.

I haven’t looked at the film again yet, but when I do I will certainly bear in mind your analysis Stephen.

I’ll post a general intro on the ‘Dreams of a Nation’ course in the next few weeks and then some more reviews of Israeli and Palestinian films.

Early on,we see the “Separation Wall” which divides Israel from the Palestinian Left Bank.This is replicated, on a smaller scale, with the fence which partitions Salma’s lemon orchard and poorer Palestinian home, from the wealthier residence of her new neigbour,the Israeli Defence Minister.

Salma herself,is further divided from her husband by death(although he continues to “glower” down on the precedings,from a picture on the wall) and from her son,who is working in America.Other divisions which Salma experiences,include language,as she speaks Arabic,but no Hebrew and gender,when she is stared at,after entering a “mans domain”.Later she is reminded of another border, when a family friend warns her about her growing relationship,with her lawyer.Infact,even the lawyer is separated from his young daughter,who is living in Moscow.

On the other side of the divide,the Defence Ministers wife,Mira,has her own borders.She is separated from her daughter,who she can only see via a webcam and her husband,by his work.

However,by the end of the film,I feel that both Salma and Mira,have both become stronger.Even though they have had a boundary between them,throughout the whole film,they obviously respect each other.Infact,Mira is strong enough to leave her husband.Who is left in his fortified house,to look out over his newly built barricade,at a defiant Salma,standing proudly in the wasteland of her lemon orchard and home.

Nice to get your reply! You can buy Bahlawan now from israel-music.com. It’s truly wonderful. Mainly in Arabic. A couple of her songs are sung with her good friend Achinoam Nini, a Yemenite Israeli jewish peace activist.

Thanks for the link (http://www.myspace.com/miraawad). This is exactly the kind of information that should be spread around. I’ll look out for the album.