Most of the human catastrophes concurrently taking place are extensions of long histories of conflict. They are the inheritances of colonialism and Western interventionist agendas. As such, the title of filmmaker Annemarie Jacir’s period piece, “Palestine ’36,” is a political statement in itself. It situates the Palestinian plight not as a recent occurrence, but as a process of dispossession that has been in motion long before the Nakba in 1948.
A long-time cinematic chronicler of Palestinian life, Jacir attempts to cover a lot of ground via a tapestry of characters from distinct walks of life at a time when the British, in control of Palestine, ushered in the displacement of the native population. Their goal was to accommodate Jewish settlers arriving from Europe with the intention of founding a Zionist state. The elegantly conceived and proficiently edited film feels schematic in its structure and, at times, didactic in how it conveys the historical events, reflecting the writer-director’s instinct to provide a comprehensive snapshot of a pivotal time. Interspersed throughout, colorized archival footage showing Palestinian resistance, as well as scenes of everyday life, accentuates the scripted drama’s verisimilitude.
Still, though assembled as a sampler of specific experiences, “Palestine ’36” relies on the fact that each of the Palestinian individuals it follows shares an indefatigable spirit to fight for their land. The emotional intensity remains even as the narrative jumps between Khalid (the great Saleh Bakri), a humble worker turned revolutionary, or Khouloud (Yasmine Al Massri), a journalist from the upper class, or Yusuf (Karim Daoud Anaya), a gentle young man from a small village who works in the city and bears witness to the whole picture as he crosses checkpoints daily. If there’s one character in the ensemble that’s closest to filling the role of the protagonist is Yusuf. He inhabits multiple worlds within the Palestinian reality, eventually surrendering both pastoral life and urban prospects to take up arms.
Jacir’s ambitious picture, heroically filmed on location in Palestine, also calls to account the wealthy Palestinian landowners whose desire for economic prosperity makes them naïve targets. They, too, will be betrayed when the British Empire reveals its true plans for the territory. And while the settlers are only visible in the backdrop, raising fences to keep Palestinians out of the land that they had long called home, mentions in dialogue of how the Zionist movement wielded the British to clear their path for the occupation abound. The film zeroes in on how the British established the infrastructure for the oppression of Palestinians, policies that ultimately led to the blatant apartheid system that exists today.
The onus to remain peaceful and behave diplomatically falls exclusively (and transparently) on the Palestinians, as the settlers expand their appropriation of the land unchecked. Not much has changed in that regard. When Yusuf’s father is killed, and his brother is arrested before the funeral is over, he’s expected to remain calm, to not lash out against the perpetrators. The tragedies that befall Palestinians at the hands of colonizers, old and current, have to be quickly moved to the back burner because the existential threat remains, forcing them to turn their grief into rage. Late in the film, a young Palestinian boy, Kareem (Ward Helou), who’s just lost his Orthodox priest father (Jalal Altawil) to a brutal execution, can only briefly sit with the immense sorrow before he must get up and embark on a deadly quest for revenge. As futile as his plot will surely prove, it’s an attempt at restoring a semblance of justice in a place where it’s absent.
Recent BAFTA winner for “I Swear,” Robert Aramayo plays Captain Wingate and embodies the righteous cruelty of an empire concerned only with its interests as it gambles with the destinies of people who have lived there for generations. Jeremy Irons appears as High Commissioner Arthur Wauchopes, one of several British men who sit around a table speaking about how to carry out counterinsurgency efforts to weaken the Palestinian revolt from within. Even the well-intentioned British secretary Thomas (Billy Howle), who shows empathy for the Palestinians’ discontent, ultimately has the option to return home, washing his hands of what is unfolding. “I’m not a tourist,” Khouloud aptly tells him about why the vanishing options to achieve a free Palestinian state unsettle her so profoundly.
If “Palestine ’36” is indeed a filmic history lesson, it’s one worth sitting through. That a traditionally realized historical drama with impeccable production value and consistently effective performances centers the Palestinian perspective makes for an essential endeavor. Like all successful recreations of the past on screen, it gives history a physical form in the faces and bodies of people who can illustrate the impact of what occurred on a human level.
