Question 1
The Time That Remains is largely related to its subtitle, Chronicle of a Present Absentee, which also describes it in a paradoxical manner that reflects the director’s temperament (Scott 1). The absentee that the film is alluding to is Elia Suleiman, the director of the film. Specifically, Suleiman is an Arab that was born in 1960 in the city of Nazareth. The film has a scope of a historical epic, and it presents nearly a half-century of turmoil and tragedy in the form of comic vignettes. Furthermore, the film serves as a completion of a trilogy by Suleiman that started with the Chronicle of a Disappearance of 1996 and continued with the Divine Intervention of 2002 (Buckwalter 1). “The Time That Remains” is the most wide-ranging and ambitious of the three films. The trilogy gives an account of over 60 years of life in the Israeli town of Nazareth.
Question 2
The opening line reveals the way Suleiman is frustrated by his inability to recognize where he is because of the significant changes that have occurred in Israel. The statement “Where am I?” suggests that Suleiman is trying to figure out his place in Israel as an Arab. Together with the cab driver, they seem lost in Israel, and they appear to be in a foreign land with which they are not conversant. Suleiman is widely surprised by the way his homeland had changed since 1948 when Israel became independent.
Question 3
Throughout the film, there is bitterness and anger in the director’s portrayal of the humiliations and suffering that Israelis are inflicting upon the Palestinians (Scott 1). However, the film does not dwell on the romanticism of lost causes of hatred. Instead, it employs the use of comedy in cruelty. The instances of oppression, violence, and betrayal are widely incorporated in the frames of the film that Suleiman carefully composed (Scott 1). The film depicts and underlines the fact that Palestinians have suffered indignity at the hands of Israelis who are currently occupying their ancestral lands.
Question 4
Ideally, the autobiographical film focuses on the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians in a humorous and emotional manner (Buckwalter 1). The story is widely portrayed through vignettes from Suleiman’s family history. The film is largely organized around a Nazareth family that learns to live in Israel after the end of the 1948 Israel-Arab War (Buckwalter 1). The film is centred on the family of Saleh Bakri (Faud Suleiman) who plays the role of a resistance fighter who was coerced into submission after being arrested. His son, Elia, and wife suffer the consequences of his actions. Towards the end of the film, Elia is widely portrayed as a middle-aged man. Suleiman is starring in the last section of the comic film that focuses on the day-to-day life experiences of Arabs that have been living in Israel for over half a century.
Question 5
The cinematography by Marc-Andre Batigne is impressive in regards to composition and framing. Arabic pop songs are used effectively in the film to provide a counterpoint to the weighty underlying issues illustrated in the film. Notably, the story of The Time That Remains is punctuated by incidental music that is carefully deployed, with lyrics in both Hebrew and Arabic, but ends with a remix of “Stayin Alive.”
Question 6
The director, Suleiman, uses the film to express his feelings about the continued presence of Israel in his homeland. The film also portrays the evolving and complex identity of that Arabs living Israel. It is also a semi-autobiography of the director, but he maintains relatively high levels of silence during his time on the screen. The style gives the character invisibility that reflects his perspective regarding the presence of Arabs in Israel (present yet absent).
Works Cited
Buckwalter, Ian. In 'The Time That Remains,' A Tilt Toward The Absurd. NPR. January 7, 2011. Web. March 9, 2016.
Scott, Oliver. In Nazareth, Human Comedy as Wind Rustles the Olive Branches. The New York Times. January 6, 2011. Web. March 9, 2016.
