Back in 2005, Hany Abu-Assad broke out onto the international scene when his film "Paradise Now" was nominated for the 2005 Best Foreign Language film at the Academy Awards. "Paradise Now" narrated the story of two Palestinians preparing to join a suicide bombing mission in Tel Aviv. Since then, Abu-Assad has directed films that differ greatly from the world of the Palestinian-Israeli conflicts. "Omar" returns Abu-Assad to the world of "Paradise Now" and offers a complex narrative filled with betrayal, suspense, and heartbreak.
Omar (Adam Bakri) is a young Palestinian who is in love with Nadja (Leem Lubany), the sister of his best friend Tarek (Eyad Hourani). Tarek and Omar, alongside their other childhood friend Amjad (Samer Bisharat) are joining a resistance and preparing to launch an attack on Israeli forces. However, once the deed has been committed Omar gets captured and is forced to confess and cooperate or lose the chance to be with Nadja. This forces him to choose between remaining loyal with his friends or losing his life forever.
The film's greatest strength is how Abu-Assad manages to continually pull the strings on the viewer with every new twist and turn that he inserts. Like Omar, the viewer is thrust into the world with seemingly no anticipation of what is to come. Just when it seems that Omar (and by extension the viewer) has everything figured out, Abu-Assad turns in an unexpected direction that essentially destroys every preconceived notion that was held previously. Even after the film has reached its tense climax, the viewer is thrust along a series of new plot twists that not only increase the sense of paranoia, but also create a strong empathy for the central character. Afterall, Omar starts off as an idealist acting on the whims of romantic love that slowly finds his idyllic world shattered in the face of betrayal. A powerful visual demonstration of Omar's development features a massive wall that divides two Palestinian regions. As the film opens, the character climbs the wall with relative ease; he climbs it multiple times in the film's opening act in fact. However, near the end of the narrative, the character makes an attempt to climb and repeatedly falls over. Abu-Assad and cinematographer Ehab Assal shoot the action in a long wide take that not only emphasizes how massive the wall is, but how small Omar is attempting to scale it. The emphasis on the rope also seems to suggest that Omar is still only a mere puppet and that his control over his life has reached its lowest point yet.
Despite his fall from grace, Abu-Assad refuses to destroy Omar's spirit for good and in an excellent plot twist at the end of the film, the director finally allows his character to pull the strings on his own.
The cast is made up of newcomers, but it rarely shows as they all give tremendous performances. Bakri is rather quiet as Omar and seems to carry the same even keep throughout the entire of the film. Despite the minimal facial expressions, Bakri's eyes reveal the soul of the character as they probe throughout the film. The final moment is one particularly powerful demonstration of this as the viewer sees Omar with a different glint in his eyes; the meek expression replaced by a more hostile, forceful one. Lubany is also strong as his love interest Nadja. The two actors have the job of carrying the emotional weight of the film and do so admirably.
Zuaiter is a virtual scene-stealer with his calm and collected demeanor. He treats Omar with tremendous kindness and even has a tender moment with him in the office when Omar asks him for one last chance. In that particular scene, Zuaiter's Rami looks on the prisoner with an almost fatherly expression that creates a tremendous sense of empathy. However, the performance also showcases a few unique aspects to the character. As expected, Rami can be rather hostile and menacing and nowhere is this more present than during an interrogation scene after Omar gets caught by the police. Zuaiter almost manages to capture a comic essence in the character during a memorable phone call conversation with the character's wife.
Hourani and Bisharat bring opposing qualities to their respective characters Tarek and Amjad that somehow emphasize Omar as the balance. Tarek is aggressive and virile while Amjad is weak and frightful.
The cinematography is impeccable as Abu-Assad and Assal manage to create an increasing sense of intrusion and paranoia in the viewer. The close-ups get tighter and tighter as the narrative progresses, giving the viewer a closer look into Omar's perspective. However they also feel uncomfortable in their proximity, almost as if the viewer were intruding into "secrets that must be kept secret (as one character duly notes)." During the first kiss between Omar and Nadja, the camera moves into an extreme close-up on the characters' lips. While the intimacy is portrayed, the effect is almost jarring in how close to the action it is; the viewer almost feels as if it is watching something that it shouldn't. This does not deter from the film in any way as it simply highlights the lack of privacy and secrecy that Omar has in his life.
The film is an engaging thrill ride from start to end that will undoubtedly keep audiences constantly guessing. However, the film is not only a superficial thrill ride as it asks powerful questions about betrayal, privacy, and control over one's destiny that linger long after the film has ended. The Middle East has come into prominence as a terrific filmmaking center; "Omar" proves that the region still has a tremendous amount to offer.