Peace After Marriage – green cards, porn and Palestine
Peace After Marriage is a rare mixture of a romantic comedy and a “40 year old virgin”-type masturbation movie about the Israel-Palestine conflict. And let us put the record straight, this film is as politically incorrect as it gets. If that is a delicate matter to you, then this might not be the right film for you. But if you feel that there is a need for some humour in the Middle East debate, then you are in for a real treat.
Green cards and sex aids
Thirty year old Palestinian-American Arafat still lives at home with his mom and dad in Brooklyn. In-between his mother’s hummus and his dad’s constant nagging about marriage, Arafat lives his life as a sexually frustrated porn addict and unemployed bachelor. It all seems a bit like a more mature edition of American Pie.
In times of despair, Arafat accepts an offer to join in on a green card marriage with a beautiful, young woman. Expecting some easy money and long awaited sex, the situation turns to absurd comedy Woody Allen style when his bride-to-be, Michaela, proves to be Israeli.
“Is she from Palestine?”, Arafat’s mother asks when she learns about the marriage. “We call it Palestine. She doesn’t!”, Arafat replies diplomatically over a dinner of Palestinian treats.
Stereotypes and prejudices
Ghazi Albuliwi, the film’s director and leading role, is himself Palestinian-American and grew up in New York. He is also a stand-up comedian, something that displays clearly in Peace After Marriage. The film, which has been called a “sexual jihad” by the director himself, breaks every thinkable taboo and jokes unrestrainedly about stereotypes, prejudices and angry, religious men.
Both Palestinians and Israelis are portrayed as caricatured versions of themselves. In one of the film’s retrospectives, we find Arafat and his whole family searching for a potential bride in the West Bank. After a failed wedding attempt, the deceived bride’s family goes berserk with guns, resulting in Arafat desperately having to run away from Palestinian gunmen. He runs for his life only to find himself caught up at the wall that separates the West Bank from Israel - on his knees in the hands of Israeli soldiers.
When the marriage with Michaela comes up, a real wedding ceremony has to be conducted in order to trick the American immigration authorities. The Jewish-Muslim wedding becomes a circus in which the rabbi and the imam end up competing to break the sound barrier throwing high-pitched ceremonial blessings at each other.
Peace after the movie?
In an interview with the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Albuliwi has said: “Anyone who lives long enough in New York will turn into a neurotic Jew at some point. I’m an Arab, but I’m influenced by Woody Allen, who has greater appeal among Jews than Arabs”. Some viewers might consider the film politically incorrect, and Albuliwi has been accused by critics of being both naïve and ignorant.
− You do realize that your vagina is now part of the Mideast peace process?, Michaela’s Israeli friend exclaims at some point in the movie. Well, it is doubtful that there will be peace after Peace After Marriage. But as the famous, Palestinian actress Hiam Abbass, Arafat’s mother in the film, replied when she was asked about the political implications of the movie: ”Relax! It’s a comedy!”
During Arabian Film Days, Peace After Marriage will be screened Friday 4th of April at 6:15 pm, Saturday 5th of April at 12:30 pm and Saturday 5th of April at 8:15 pm.