vr1 b, ea- _wow Riks'a".4 • MEDITERRANEAN 00/ 0 wi DAILY The backdrop to Miral's arrest is the first intifada; she's in prison in 1987 for suspicion of knowing a PLO activ- ist (her boyfriend). She's only there for 24 hours, which in turn arouses the suspicion of her "friends" in the move- ment. (One of the few things the film gets right is the way that young revo- lutionary movements have of turning inward and destroying their own.) The film ends on the eve of the signing of the Oslo agreement. Adapted by Rula Jebreal (Schnabel's romantic as well as professional part- ner) from her highly autobiographical novel, it tells in laborious chronology the story of the Dar Al-Tifel Institute, a home and school for Palestinian children; its founder Hind Husseini (Hiam Abbas, who is wasted in a part that seems to have been designed for Greer Garson); and the family history of one of her students, Miral (Freida Pinto). Schnabel and Jebreal obviously felt it imperative to leave out nothing from Jebreal's novel, with the result that the film is nearly 45 minutes old before we even meet Miral herself. There is an entire series of relation- ships involving Husseini, an American colonel (an amiable Willem Dafoe), the local Arab leadership and a young imam who will eventually be Miral's father. If the purpose of this lengthy prelude is to establish the school's centrality to Husseini's vision of edu- cation as the road to Palestinian self- determination, the entire matter could be better dealt with in minutes; as depicted here, this ideal is barely paid lip service, and most of the action is irrelevant. The film is overstuffed with elabo- rate plot and thematic elements. We are treated to the story of Miral's mother Nadia (Yasmine Al Massri), who is sexually abused as an ado- lescent and ends up as an alcoholic; Nadia's jailhouse encounter with Fatima (Ruba Bial), a nurse who is in prison for a failed terror bombing; and finally Fatima's brother Jamal (Alexander Siddig), whom Miral will marry. There are hints dropped about Miral's possible parentage that finally result in an ostensible surprise, but that revelation comes so late in the film that there is no time left to pur- sue it. It remains just one more loose end among many. Julian Schnabel's films thus far have focused intensely on men under extreme duress and how they respond GRILLE CUSTOMER APPRECIATION LUNCH SPECIAL CHOOSE Two SOUP, SALAD OR SANDWICH Starting at Si= `II. .99 ENTIRE' g BILL 1 I Excludes alcohol, Iamb chops, tax and gratuity. Dine-in or carry out Must have coupon. Cannot be combined with another offer. Expires 4/30/11 owe MIN NM 4189 ORCHARD LAKE ROAD • ORCHARD LAKE TWP., MICHIGAN 248.865.0000 DINE IN OR CARRY OUT If You Want The Best, Give Us A Test by MILES DROASTED CHICKEN DAR-11-Ct RIBS / SEAFOOD Director Julian Schnabel with dignity to the pressures of heroin addiction and sudden celeb- rity (Basquiat), political and sexual oppression (Before Night Falls) and severe physical disability (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly). His female characters have seemed almost an afterthought before now, and by splitting the narrative focus between Hind Husseini, Nadia and Miral, he undermines the audience's identification with and understanding of all three women. That problem is intensified by his visually scattershot approach, with shifts in point of view that are incon- gruent with the conventionally linear narrative. Many of Nadia's scenes are shot in a hazy, penumbral style, with the edges of the frame rapidly shifting in and out of focus. The supposed purpose of this par- ticular stylization is that this is the way that Miral remembers her mother who died when she was a child, but the scenes take place before Miral is born, and the only way that a viewer could possibly figure out this ham- handed symbolism is by reading the press notes to the film. Moreover, Schnabel is wildly incon- sistent in his use of this device any- way, making nonsense of the conceit. The wildly swinging camera move- ments that encircle Hind Husseini throughout the film's first sequences make even less sense. Schnabel's overly emphatic directo- rial choices repeatedly frustrate and attenuate his authorial intentions. Miral may be well intended, but the result is a 10-ton souffle. L I Miral opens Friday, April 1, in Detroit. FORMERLY LOCATED ON WOODWARD IN ROYAL OAK LUNCH SPECIAL FOR TWO I Men/ WHOLE OR 1, aull BAR- 13-Q CHICKEN (IIAM-4PM) DINE-IN ONLY EXPIRES 04/08/fl I low ammo ma *ME 11•11. SPECIAL 1 NRO4STE0 CH/CKEN TO 60 I DINNER OFF WITH PURCHASE OF I 16 PIECES $1495 Call (248) 488-5555 SPECIALTY OF THE HOUSE: Broasted Chicken • Bar-B-Q Ribs • Seafood With Our Own Special Sauce Open 7 Days for Lunch & Dinner . FULL DINNER SECOND I DINNER. I (EQUAL OF LESSER VALUE) DINE-IN ONLY EXPIRES 04/08/11 27847 Orchard Lake Road at 12 Mile (NW corner) Farmington Hills, MI 48334 Open 7 Days at 11 am WE'VE MOVED 2 DOORS DOWN! Authentic Chinese/Asian Cooking 10 %Off •Featuring •Complete Lunch Starts at $6.55 Total Bill DINE IN OR CARRYOUT Not good with any other offer 1 coupon per table • with coupon- Expires 4/15/11 •Children's Menu 'Healthy, Low Fat, 'Sodium Free' Choices • Vegetarian Dishes 39470 14 Mile Rd. (corner of Haggerty in the Newberry Square Plaza), 248-960-7666 www.szechuanempire.com lourless hocolate Cakes Brownies Seven-Layer Almond Cakes 248.626.9110 On the Boardwalk 6879 Orchard Lake Rd. West Bloomfield 1641280 SN March 31 . 2011 55