IT MUST BE HEAVEN
Elia SULEIMAN — FRANCE — 97 minutes
IN A NUTSHELL
Elia Suleiman escapes from Palestine in the search of an alternative homeland, only to find that Palestine is trailing behind him. Despite travelling great distances from the likes of Paris to New York, there is almost, always something that reminds him of home. This comedy explores identity, nationality and the sense of belonging. (words by Bianca Garner)
CRITICAL RESPONSE
“It’s not like the film ignores the Occupation — a scene of two Israeli soldiers exchanging sunglasses while a blindfolded young woman sits in the back of their car ensures that no one will think the director is pretending all’s well. But Suleiman, the eternal observer, trusts his audience already knows the facts.” — Jess Weissberg, Variety
“As ever, the cinematic language is painstaking controlled, yet subtle enough to pass unobserved. Sofian El Fani’s widescreen, rectilinear cinematography and careful compositions take in a lot of landscape, isolating Suleiman in the center of the screen, and the soundtrack uses a dozen well-selected songs that ably replace the missing dialogue.” — Deborah Young, The Hollywood Reporter
“Mostly, It Must Be Heaven is about how we view the world through the Instagram filter of what defines us. But it’s also, arguably, more objective than that – suggesting that we all now live in a kind of global Palestine, where arbitrary displays of power, threats of violence, and lost people in search of meaning and identity are the new normal.” — Lee Marshall, Screen Daily
PRIZE PROSPECTS
Also a filmmaker not a strange to the Cannes Film Festival, Elia Suleiman, who won the Jury Prize in 2002 with Divine Intervention, returns this year with a rather satirical entry. And although his observant stand-point has warmed somewhat to audiences, there is just so much heavier material on show in competition.
That is, of course, assuming the Jury will be swayed by the more dramatic, solid efforts in contention. With lighter conviction in It Must Be Heaven amidst a group of more serious executions, Suleiman has ample opportunity to crash the party, though. Not that I am even slightly convinced he will. (words by Robin Write)
