IT MUST BE HEAVEN

(dir. Elia Suleiman, PG)

A sweet, melancholic little piece from Palestinian film-maker Elia Suleiman, this stars the director as himself (in a role with echoes of Jacques Tati’s M. Hulot), an almost completely silent observer watching the world unfold around him in all its messiness and beauty. Almost completely devoid of plot, It Must Be Heaven instead employs an easy-going, almost episodic structure with some fascinating juxtapositions and a quietly beating political heart. Splashes of absurdist comedy that recall the work of Swedish film-maker Roy Andersson draw the viewer in. Never anything less than totally engaging.