Amin Jaafari is a extremely successful Arabic surgeon who has fully assimilated into Tel Aviv society. He has a loving wife, many Jewish friends and has just received the highest recognition in his field from his peers. Amen's world is turned upside down when he gets a phone call in the middle of the night, only to discover that his wife, Sihem, is responsible for carrying out a suicide bombing in a restaurant that claimed the lives of nineteen innocent people, including seven children. In complete disarray, Amin leaves his adopted home venturing off into the Palestinian territories in search of the truth and/or reasoning for her actions. Ziad Doueiri's The Attack is a powerful dramatic experience which succeeds both as an intimate portrait of a grieving husband as well as a piercing look at the volatility of this region of the world. While the first half of The Attack is very much a meditative study of Amin, the second half transforms into a suspenseful detective story as Amin seeks answers. Amin is a character who loves his wife very much and even though all signs point to her guilt he is reluctant to accept it. His wife has committed a monstrous act and Amin's denial of her guilt is what keeps him somewhat emotionally stable, like a defense mechanism, though he realizes the truth deep down. Ziad Doueiri's direction effectively transports the viewer into Amin's psyche capturing how he searches his memories and recollections of his wife for any semblance of reasoning that explains her heinous act. That Attack creates a great sense of unease among these various cultures but it starts even before the terrorist attack unfolds. It's subtle but Ziad Doueiri touches on the strife taking place in Tel Aviv, with Amin facing passive aggressive racism from not only certain colleagues but even the patients he is trying to save. When Amin arrives in the Palestine region the film further carves out this portrait of two worlds in conflict. Sihem is viewed as a martyr in the region, with her image being celebrated and used as a marketing tool for their cause. The Attack is not a film that picks sides but presents a much more profound truth, illustrating how both sides truly believe in their convictions and will never be swayed from what they believe is morally just. 8.5/10
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June 2023
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