Cannes. "The Time That Remains"

By David Hudson on 05/22/2009

[Updated through 5/24]

"It must be a year for old men remembering lost parents and lovers," writes Roger Ebert. "One of the most unexpected successes here is 'The Time That Remains,' a deadpan Palestinian comedy written by, directed, and starring Elia Suleiman. Read that again: a deadpan Palestinian comedy. And not especially political, although almost all stories set in Israel must be to one degree or another.... I was surprised by how it grew on me."

This one "edges out 'Vincere' as my favorite film in Competition this year (with only two left to see at this writing). Mike D'Angelo at the AV Club: "Like his previous film, 'Divine Intervention,' it's a grim comedy structured as a series of deadpan blackout sketches, many of which recur with slight variations... In the context of daily life in an occupied country (from Suleiman's perspective, at least), however, that approach proves remarkably bracing.... And where 'Divine Intervention' ultimately got a bit heavy-handed, ending on the overly symbolic image of a pressure cooker about to explode, 'The Time That Remains,' while often bitter and never less than sorrowful, sticks mostly to brilliant sight gags, my personal favorite being the enormous Israeli tank that struggles to keep its primary gun on a Palestinian dude who's pacing back and forth while having a totally mundane cell-phone conversation."

"Suleiman adapted the screenplay for 'The Time That Remains' from diaries his father wrote as he was dying in their native Nazareth, a mostly Arab city in Israel," writes Howard Feinstein in Screen. "This impressive film is, however, as much about the director (who, as always, plays himself, this time in the last third of the movie) as it is about his father, Fuad ([Saleh] Bakri). They journey in opposite directions. His father shifts from gun-making and resistance fighting during Israel's 1948 War of Independence to postwar acquiescence. Suleiman traces his own path from young conformist to political activist, and ultimately to mute observer."

IndieWIRE's Eugene Hernandez reports on the press conference.

Update: "Those expecting a more ambitious, large-scale treatment of the subject - from the initial announcement pic was to be a semi-autobiographical history of Suleiman's family from 1948 to the present - may well feel let down," writes Derek Elley in Variety. "'Time' is essentially 'Divine' with a more personal and historical edge: A succession of small events, running jokes and ironic observations in the director's Tati-esque style. Almost perversely, Suleiman avoids referencing most of the key political markers of the past 60 years, holding his focus tightly on a small family and neighbors in his home town of Nazareth. Framing device (which could be eliminated) has 'E.S.,' as he's billed in closing crawl (Suleiman), taking a taxi from the airport as he arrives in Israel. As the cab gets caught in a sudden thunderstorm, the tone turns mystical as he asks the - rather obvious - question, 'Where am I?' Pic's five subsequent sections, each about 20 minutes long, are separated simply by fadeouts, with no date captions - though it's not difficult to guess the periods from implanted info."

Update, 5/23: "Despite the long list of co-producers, the film was clearly made on a budget, a fact that gives it a more intimate and personal look than an epic dimension," writes Deborah Young in the Hollywood Reporter. "Violence is kept off-screen and there are no action scenes per se. The retro charm of old Nazareth is captured by Marc-André Batigne's cinematography and deceptively naive camera movement, barely more than in a silent movie."

Update, 5/24: "It's a movie whose loveliness grows on you," writes the Boston Globe's Wesley Morris. "Scenes are repeated or slightly revised, and the geometric shot composition is as exquisite if less foreboding as Michael Haneke's in 'The White Ribbon.' Suleiman's eyes remain popped throughout. He moves from room to room like something animatronic. It's unclear that anyone can really even see him. But his detachment gets at a kind of otherness and division he must feel when he's at home. The soullessness that might mark another director's attempt to treat his life, family, and Arabness so dreamily is never a factor. This is a fanciful, funky movie with a supernatural kick. Suleiman is the filmmaker as limbo ghost, directing a movie while simultaneously dead and alive."

Coverage of the coverage: Cannes 2009.

[Photo: "The Time That Remains," Nazira Films, 2009]

Tags: Cannes 2009, Elia Suleiman, Saleh Bakri, The Time That Remains