Imagine a film chronicling the lives and hardships of Palestinians who were branded “Israeli-Arabs,” living as a minority in their own homeland. Now imagine it as a comedy. This contradiction, starring, written and directed by the brilliant Elia Suleiman, is a wonderful fusion of the political and personal, the historical and the hysterical.
Spanning from 1948 until recent times, The Time That Remains recreates the lives of Suleiman's family and community with precise, deadpan wit. The film is inspired by his father's diaries and his mother's letters to family who were forced to leave the country. Suleiman combines sometimes absurd vignettes and brightly coloured mise en scène with the framing of a Jacques Tati film, interspersing touching moments of familial intimacy with tense scenes of abuse at the hands of Israelis.
The Time That Remains tells the story of a family through the lens of a satirical biographer, observing his family's life through shadow-rimmed eyes. During this time, we see Suleiman's father from his beginnings as a resistance fighter and firebrand gun-maker, watching as he gradually ages into the old patriarch sitting outside the local café, consuming countless cigarettes and cups of coffee as he reminisces with his friends. This is a film that offers a personal perspective on events that continue to shape global politics.
“Israeli-Arabs” is a political term for those Palestinians who are both insiders and outsiders, present and absent – conditions felt by Suleiman, his family and other Palestinians who chose to remain on their lands. His own perspective is both deeply local and fully international, both rigorous and comic. If there is a bridge between Edward Saïd and Buster Keaton, it lives in the person of Suleiman.
Under the masterful direction of an exceptionally thoughtful filmmaker, The Time That Remains deals with political history without ever becoming mired in politics. Rather, we are presented with a beautifully conceived series of wry sketches that follow one ordinary family in extraordinary times.
Cameron Bailey
Elia Suleiman is of Palestinian nationality, born in Nazareth. He has made the short films
Introduction to the End of an Argument (91),
Homage by Assassination (92) and
Irtebak in the anthology film
Chacun son cinéma (07). His feature films include
Chronicle of a Disappearance (96),
Divine Intervention (02), which was a Special Presentation at the Festival and won the jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and
The Time That Remains (09).