Week 14- Private

The film titled Private, in my oppinion, was one of the most conmovating films we have seen in this class. The setting is in a quiet section of Palestine where a family lives out its normal life. The family is formed by two parents and their five children of varying ages. One night Isreali soldiers come into their home and lock the family into a single room. An Israeli soldier tells the father that their house has been confiscated by the Israeli army to be used as an observation post. The soldiers place rules that the family must obbey or risk death. The house is divided the second floor is off limits to the family as it belongs to the soldiers and the first floor is the only place the family can reside in. All of the belongging from the bedrooms are off limits and the family only has a few clothing the father was allowed to obtain for each family member. The children continue to go through their lives including going to school and the father (Mohammed) continues to work. The one who is mostly exposed to the dangers of the soldiers is the mother (Samia) who is a housewife hence remains alone at home. When her friend does arrive she is interrogated by an Israeli soldier and told to leave and never come back to the house. When Samia tries to explain for her friend she is abruptly told to be quiet.
The most moving scene, for me personally, was the scene where the family was locked into a room due to a cross-fire by the soldiers. Mohammed realized that his youngers dughter is not with them but at the other side of the door. He stays next to the door conforting her until the doors open again in the morning. The child is traumatized by this event but when given a choice to stay home with her mother, she refuses and goes to school. This shows how she will do anything but stay home. Through the film the family becomes divided as Mohammed wants to stay in "his home" rather than leave while Samia fears for the life of her children and thinks its better is they leave. This film further displays the cruelty and manipulation of the Israeli soldiers on innocent Palestian families. After watching this, is it surprising that there is a clash of civilizations??