An ode to female freedoms
The first words uttered in “In Between,” the assured feature debut of Arab Israeli filmmaker Maysaloun Hamoud, are words of advice: If you want to make your husband happy, an older woman tells a bride, “don’t raise your voice.” For the trio of young women at the center of this sharp, wise and vibrant ode to female independence, those are words to resist, not live by.
They’re twentysomethings who came from the provinces to the big city — a setup as universal and timetested as storytelling itself. But in this case the city is complex, cosmopolitan Tel Aviv and the women are Palestinian. On top of the family expectations and Old World traditions they’re breaking away from, they’re confronted with the day-to-day realities of their minority status; one woman is admonished at her restaurant job for “upsetting” the customers by speaking Arabic.
With the outstanding contributions of cinematographer Itay Gross and composer M.G. Saad, Hamoud brings the city’s youthful grit and vitality into focus as well as the specific in-between that her characters occupy. The writer-director has a keen ear for natural dialogue, lent unpredictability and dimension by the lived-in performances of her dazzling leads: Mouna Hawa, Sana Jammelieh and Shaden Kanboura.
There’s no shortage of self-satisfied men in this tale of awakening, and hypocrisy of the most brutal, patriarchal sort meets its comeuppance. But however pointed the drama’s lessons, they’re never simplistic and always involving, pulsing with compassion and urgency as Hamoud’s vivid characters defy the rules. Each in her own way raises her voice. — Sheri Linden
“In Between.” In Arabic and Hebrew with English subtitles. Not rated. Running time: 1 hour, 43 minutes. Playing: Laemmle’s Ahrya Fine Arts, Beverly Hills.