Thursday Movie Picks: Non-English Language Movies - Middle Eastern Language


Welcome to Thursday Movie Picks, a weekly series hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves where each Thursday you have to pick three films to match the week's topic.

As you can see from the title, this week we have to pick middle eastern language movies. Another easy week for me! Sure, I haven't seen a lot of these films so I don't have much of a choice, but those few films I've seen were all amazing and they all did a great job portraying life in the country the story takes place. That being said, here they are:

A Separation (2011)

With a plot involving divorce, an Alzheimer-suffering man and the struggles of a maid in Iran, this excellent and compelling domestic drama focuses on the separation of a couple and how that affects their daughter. At the same time director Asghar Farhadi shows the difficulty of a woman to be part of a male-dominated society.

Omar (2013)

With the fictional story of Omar, involving friendship and love, this emotional masterpiece shows the Palestinian-Israeli conflict from the Palestinian point of view and provides an insight into how it is to live there. And it does it flawlessly with a great performance from its lead, and a naive Romeo and Juliet type of romance that makes the film even more engaging.

Theeb (2014)

Following the story of a young Bedouin boy that embarks on a desert journey to guide a British officer, this is a thoughtful and touching coming-of-age, definitely different than other films of the genre. The film's greatest strengths? The fascinating photography and the amazing "performance" of non-actor Jacir Eid Al-Hwietat. 

14 comments :

  1. I think every man and his dog will pick A Separation (2011), mostly because it's such a widely viewed film. Haven't seen your other picks as I haven't see many films from this region.

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    1. I've seen the other two only because they were nominated at the Oscars. And I really wanted Omar to win that year.

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  2. A Separation is so popular this week! I have Theeb in my Netflix queue, but I haven't gotten a chance to watch it yet. Soon, hopefully.

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    1. It's a well done coming of age. I'm sure you'll like it.

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  3. A Separation seems to be the movie of choice this week and it is one I do want to see. I sucked this week as I have not seen any

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    1. I think most haven't seen a lot of movies from this region.

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  4. Omar sounds like an interesting film. I'm going to look into it! Thanks for sharing. :)

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  5. Yup, another vote for A Separation. Great movie, that is.

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    1. And it's also one of my favourites foreign language movies.

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  6. My my I really did miss the boat on A Separation.

    Omar and Theeb sound great! Lots to catch up on!

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  7. I'm in the same boat as you. While I haven't seen a lot of films from the region, I'd say the few films I've seen were all amazing. I think it's just that the ones that get exported/distributed internationally and have become accessible are the ones that have won something at international film festivals.

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    1. Yeah, that's probably the reason. But it's better that way so we avoid to watch bad films.

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