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Sarah Stevenson
Professor Julie Hicks
HONR 3702
16 March 2015

The Syrian Bride (2005) was directed by Eran Riklis. It is a

political/drama/comedy film that focuses on a Druze wedding and the IsraeliArab conflict. The Syrian Bride follows the culture of the Druze people and
challenges that come with a marriage between people of two countries at
war. A moment of grace is considered to be a period in a film when we see a
character make a significant change or demonstrate humanity. In The Syrian
Bride, many characters have a moment of grace. A few of these characters
are Amal, Hammed, Marwan, and the Israeli police officer. This film also
sheds light on this issues of borders. These borders are physical, but there
are also borders in The Syrian Bride that are psychological, emotional, and
political. Finally, this film enables us to understand the complexities of some
of this issues involving Israeli borders.
Eran Riklis, director of The Syrian Bride, notes that each one of his characters
has a "moment of grace." In these moments, the characters defy tradition
and culture to follow their hearts or do what they believe is right. The
characters in The Syrian Bride that I believe had the most significant
moments are Amal, Hammed, Marwan, and the Israeli border police. My
personal favorite character's "moment of grace" is that of Amal, but maybe

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I'm just partial because I'm studying social work too. Amal is a carefree,
independent woman in an unhappy marriage. I believe that her "moment of
grace" begins when she gets an acceptance letter to the school of social
work. Despite, having to be submissive to her husband and to stay and raise
her daughters, it is evident that there is a drive in her to do the things that
make her happy. Amal's moment of grace reaches its highest point at the
end of the film when she faces her daughter Mona at the border one last
time and they turn and walk off in opposite directions. It is a significant
moment because Mona choose to cross the border to begin her new life as a
bride and Amal chooses to pursue her dreams and new life as well. The
Israeli border police is another character who has a "moment of grace." In
my opinion, he didn't have it on his own though. He had it because he was
forced too. The police officer tries to arrest Hammed for saying goodbye to
his daughter one last time. As he is putting Hammed in the back of his
vehicle, Hattem steps in and threatens the officer informing him that it is an
unlawful arrest. There's no way of really knowing whether his "moment of
grace" occurred because he had no other choice but to let Hammed go or if
he really felt sympathy for the father that was about to say goodbye to his
daughter forever. Marwan is Hattem's brother. He seems pretty fun loving
and laid back, but he is also sleazy and a womanizer. Because Hattem chose
to marry outside of tradition, Hammed was ashamed of and angry at his son
for his decision. However, Marwan chooses to continue to love his brother
like he always did. It is evident when he picks up his brother and family and

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welcomes them into the car. Finally, the most beautiful "moment of grace" in
The Syrian Bride belongs to Hammed. The entire film he behaves coldly
toward his son who chose to marry a Russian woman. Because it is outside of
the Druze tradition, Hammed had the risk of being shunned by the same
people that esteem him. In turn, he chooses to shun his own son. When
Hammed lets his daughter go, he finally embraces his son and recognizes
Evelyn as his wife. In that moment, Hammed chooses not to let tradition and
what is considered culturally acceptable to come between him and his son.
The Syrian Bride also focuses on the issues of borders. These borders are
physical, emotional, psychological, and political. A physical border that is
obvious in this film is the Israeli-Syrian border. Once Mona crosses the
border, she will never be able to see her family in the Golan Heights. She
won't even be able to visit. There are many emotional borders in The Syrian
Bride. Mona is emotionally conflicted because she is about to marry a man
she's never met and leave her family behind forever. Hattem wants his father
to accept him as his son and acknowledge Evelyn as his wife and Amal
demonstrates many negative emotions towards her marriage. In my opinion,
the psychological borders exist when there is conflict between following
tradition and following the heart. As a wife and woman, Amal is expected to
abide by certain societal and cultural norms. However, she and her
daughters wear trousers. Amal also encourages her daughters to be who
they want to be instead of what society tells them they should be. She also
insists that her daughters study what they want as she considers going to

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school for social work. Hammed is also pressured not to accept his son
because he broke a Druze tradition when he married a Russian woman. The
entire film, Hammed is seen barely acknowledging his son and wife until the
end when he fully accepts their relationship. I love it when people choose to
live their lives how they want to and be who they really are despite what
society and culture says. A major political border in The Syrian Bride is the
passport ordeal. The Golan Heights is a Syrian Territory that is occupied by
Israel. The Israeli official decides to stamp the passport as leaving Israel and
entering Syria. However the Syrian official won't acknowledge the passport
because he will only recognize her as leaving Syria and entering Syria. There
is great political conflict surrounding the Golan Heights.
Overall, I did enjoy The Syrian Bride. It was a nice, positive change. One of
my favorite things about the film is that Amal wanted to study social work. It
made me so happy. I loved the cheerful and light hearted scenes in The
Syrian Bride. This film also enables us to better understand the conflict of the
Israeli and Syrian borders and the place known as the Golan Heights. The
passport is an excellent example. It shows that the Israelis recognize the
Golan Heights as being part of Israel while the Syrians refuse to give up
control of the territory. The Golan Heights was seized from Syrian by Israel in
1967 during the Six-Day War. (Golan) Syria tried to regain control in 1973
during the Middle East War, but failed. A UN observer has been in the Golan
Heights since 1974. Since then, Israel has annexed Golan, but it isn't
recognized internationally. The conflict continues today. Recently, 43 U.N.

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peacekeepers were seized by Syrian militants and 81 were trapped in the

Golan Heights. (Reuters) Another complexity is the Israeli-Palestine issue.
The New York Times describes this conflict as a conflict involving a very small
area of land, only a few million people, and very little resources. (Jacobs)
Israel's borders are defined by its war for survival. It is described by many
people to be one of the most complex conflicts to understand. However, the
video we watched in class argued that it is simple to understand, just
complex to resolve. The video had one main point: one side wants the other
side dead. I just wanted to say that the video makes perfect sense to me and
I agree with him as well as support the content. The Syrian Bride was one of
the most enjoyable films so far in my opinion. I love the film's use of the
concept of "moments of grace" as well as its examinations of the different
types of borders humans face in their lives. Through this film, I gained a
better understanding of Druze culture and the issues involving Israel's
border.

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Works Consulted
http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/opinionator/2012/08/07/the-elephant-in-themap-room/
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-14724842
http://www.ibtimes.com/syria-conflict-43-golan-heights-peacekeepers-seizedmilitants-81-trapped-1673240