MOVIE REVIEW : ‘Nadia’ Takes Look at Arab-Jewish Relations

“Nadia” is a charmer, a film as subtle and poignant as its beautiful 16-year-old Arab heroine. This 1984 release, which opens today as the final offering in the Israeli series at the Monica 4-Plex, is one the most understated and perceptive films probing Arab-Jewish relations.

Self-possessed and determined, Nadia (Hana Azulai-Hasfary) realizes that if she is to be properly prepared to enter a college pre-med course she must leave her village and attend a Jewish boarding school near Tel Aviv. Encouraged by her sophisticated and prosperous parents, she goes ahead, knowing full well that she will probably be received with a less than warm welcome by her Jewish classmates.

Sure enough, there is wariness on both sides, but what counts is what the film reveals as she and her classmates get to know and like one another. We discover that the school, which boasts fine teachers and bright students, is very much a dumping ground for kids from broken homes, and that Nadia’s stable, loving family life has given her a strength and sense of purpose that few of her classmates possess. These kids are also from affluent backgrounds: when they throw another new Arab student into the school swimming pool as part of a hazing ritual he nearly drowns; it never occurs to them that there might not be a pool in his village.

Adapted from a novel by Galila Ron-Feder--another of her novels was the basis for “On My Own,” seen earlier in the series--”Nadia” affirms the talent and versatility of its director Amnon Rubinstein, who also directed the taut political thriller “The Owl.” Rubinstein seems a natural film maker; there is an ease and spontaneity that characterizes the entire picture, especially its performances. He is highly adept at playing off the serious Nadia with the cocky Ronen (Yuval Banai), the most popular boy in the school, a smart, witty rebel whose attraction to her flusters her yet leaves her flattered.

Not surprisingly, given tensions between Arabs and Jews, Nadia does not make her way in her new environment without crisis. However, the film (Times-rated Family) holds out the hope that young Arabs and Jews, given the chance to become acquainted, will be able to achieve an enduringly peaceful co-existence that so far has eluded their elders. “Nadia,” which screened once last fall at UCLA, moves over to the Town & Country next Friday for a week’s run.

‘NADIA’

An ABA release. Executive producer David Lipkind. Producer Ehud Ben-Sach. Director Amnon Bubinstein. Screenplay Eitan Green, Galila Ron-Feder; from Ron-Feder’s novel. Camera Ilan Rosenberg. Music Yoni Rechter. Film editor David Tur. With Hana Azulai-Hasfary, Yuval Banai, Meir Banai, Yosef Abu-Varda, Salwa Nakara-Hadad, Ossy Hilel, Ri Rosenfeld, Meir Swisa. In Hebrew and Arab, with English subtitles.

Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes.

Times-rated: Family.