‘The Idol’ is inspirational, but commercial

There is no doubt that Hani Abu Assad’s The Idol is an inspirational and captivating story of Mohammad Assaf’s heartbreaking journey towards stardom. The first half of the film is charming and compelling, as it follows 10-year-old Assaf (Qais Atallah) and his 12-year-old sister Nour (Hiba Atallah) who spend their time playing on the streets and occasionally getting themselves in trouble. The two siblings and their friends, Ashraf (Ahmad Qassim) and Omar (Abdul Karim Abu Barakeh), are in a street band and soon they start performing at weddings. Abu Assad cleverly portrays Assaf’s persistence as a child to become a performer in many of the film’s scenes, from the one where he gets beaten up by a smuggler who promised to get them instruments or when he convinces his parents to let him perform at weddings. As the film progresses, Assaf’s family is impacted by a life-changing event when his sister Nour is diagnosed with kidney failure and is in desperate need of a new kidney. Nour is Assaf’s biggest fan and is constantly encouraging him not to give up because she believes his voice can transcend borders. Assaf may be the idol but his sister Nour is the star of the film. Hiba’s performance is emotional and delightful; her memorable performance definitely won the audience’s heart. The film’s second half fastforwards to 2012, where Assaf, played by Tawfeek Barhom, is a teenager in college and works as a taxi driver trying to make extra money to pay for his tuition. He still has not given up on his dream of becoming a singer and is eager to audition for Arab Idol, a

spinoff of American Idol, when it holds auditions in Egypt. But crossing the border might pose a risk to his life. In his previous films, Paradise

Now and Omar, Abu Assad created thrilling scenes when it came to crossing checkpoints and borders; here, his signature border scene was not as compelling and thrilling. The audience might have known that Assaf does end up on Arab Idol, but there is no harm in adding an element of excitement. He finally reaches Egypt and impresses the judges at the audition, then the film concentrates on Assaf’s journey in Arab Idol with a montage of his progress in the competition. The sequence of Assaf’s journey on Arab Idol suffered some technical issues. They looked somehow fabricated and out of sync, which weakened the significance of Assaf’s story. As the show enters its final round, Assaf strives to succeed to become the Arab Idol, not only to make his dream come true but to also make his country and city, Gaza, proud. When it comes to lead actors, Abu Assad surprises the audience with his choices, whether it is Ali Suliman in

Paradise Now or Adam Bakri in Omar, and in The Idol, his choice of Barhom was yet another surprise. Barhom delivers a charming and convincing performance as the music icon Assaf.

The Idol’s compelling cinematography, by Ehab Assal, and exhilarating music score, by Habib Hanna, effectively captured the occupation in Gaza and Assaf’s heartbreaking story. Abu Assad’s films never fail to deliver a powerful portrayal of the hardships of life under Israeli occupation; in The Idol he tried to address these hardships with a more uplifting and inspirational approach. However, The Idol felt more of a commercial film than a drama and this weakened the story’s significant impact.