Subscribe to Print Edition | Mon., July 14, 2008 Tamuz 11, 5768 | | Israel Time: 01:27 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Rosner's Domain Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Car Rental Books Peres Conference Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

Jerusalem Film Festival / Behind the walls By David B. Green Gated housing is the subject of Rodrigo Pla's razor-sharp feature "La Zona" (The Zone), from Mexico. The film begins with inviting shots of suburban mansions, one or two SUVs in each driveway, manicured green lawns. As the camera pulls up and away, however, we see that this idyllic neighborhood of the film's title is surrounded by a high wall, topped with barbed wire, with surveillance cameras every few hundred meters. On the other side of the wall is the real Mexico City, where rundown homes and hovels run up and down the hillsides chaotically, their very existence posing a threat to the clean, orderly universe within The Zone. But, as in any horror movie, these two worlds are destined to meet; in this case, a storm topples a billboard, which crushes part of the wall, allowing three young petty thieves to enter The Zone. They burglarize a home and are confronted by its owner, an elderly woman, and brutally kill her. Two of the three are themselves killed in short order, but the third, a terrified 16-year-old, escapes into the neighborhood, which enters a state of near-panic because a murderer is on the loose.The community has an arrangement with the police that guarantees it autonomy over its security, but one local cop is determined to get involved and bring the missing burglar out of The Zone alive. Advertisement This is not a story destined to end happily, one senses from quite early on, but what makes this first full-length feature by the Uruguayan-born Pla especially enjoyable are the subtle (and less subtle) gradations between characters on both sides of the wall. On the ideological level, one's real sympathy has to go to the have-nots in Mexico, who haven't got a chance, even when they play by the rules. At the same time, though, it's not hard to identify with the well-off residents, with their desire to protect their homes (which looked to me like Mexican versions of American faux-Mexican ranch homes) and families, especially when the alternative to their vigilante justice is relying on the police, which may well mean no justice at all. Pla keeps "The Zone" (it has been picked up by an Israeli distributor, so you should soon have the opportunity to see it, and do) grounded by focusing on one family, whose father is one of the security chiefs for the community, and who is torn between his and his wife's natural decency and, on the other hand, a rumor-ridden, riled-up neighborhood committee demanding hangman's justice. Their no-less-decent teenage son gets caught in the middle of the drama when he is confronted by the hunted invader, and must decide what he's going to do with him. Perhaps the greatest joy of attending a film festival is being exposed to other cultures and other environments, and of course being reminded how much we humans all have in common, whichever culture we reside in. The characters interviewed in Jia Zhang-ke's "24 City" are certainly people one can understand and feel sympathy for, but when one discovers that this film about a changing China is part documentary, part feature (with some characters playing themselves and others being depicted by actors), it's tough not to feel disoriented, if not a bit cheated. Nonetheless, "24 City" gives us an inside look into how capitalism continues to change China. It does this by introducing us to another walled community, the recently closed Factory 420 in the southwestern city of Chengdu. (If, like me, you never heard of Chengdu before, let me make us both feel worse by telling you that it's a city of 11 million, the capital of Sichuan province, site of May's earthquake.) The factory was a major defense installation, producing aircraft engines, and its employees had their own housing, schools and stores and the prestige that once was afforded to workers who wore uniforms and labored in industrial plants. A few years ago, it became clear to the Chengya Group, the private company that now owns the factory, that the land on which it stood would give a better return if developed residentially (sound familiar?), and Factory 420 was taken apart, piece by piece, and replaced with countless luxury apartment towers. Jia's interest is the people who worked there over the decades, including the almost lone laborer who stayed on the job during the Cultural Revolution, when we're told that people stopped coming to work, and his former boss, Master Wang, now in his dotage. The pride and dedication felt by the old-timers, all now retired, is touching, and is counterpointed by the attitude of those of the younger generation who are interviewed and describe how factory work seems, in the words of one, "like the saddest thing I'd ever seen in my life." That line was uttered by a young woman named Su Wa, who today works as a buyer, traveling to Hong Kong every two weeks to purchase luxury items for women in China who don't have time to do their own shopping. Su Wa's eyes filled with tears as she described a surprise visit she paid to her mother at a factory some years ago, and how upsetting it was to see a woman doing manual labor, and not being able to tell, from behind, whether she was a man or a woman. I found Su Wa's testimony moving and revealing. Silly me - I couldn't tell that she was being portrayed by an actress. davidg@haaretz.co.il Bookmark to del.icio.us   History undersea Israeli lifeguard stumbles upon ancient relic during morning swim. Elections, Hebrew style U.S. presidential hopefuls use Hebrew to woo the Jewish community.

Read & React Tehran slams McCain for saying cigarettes could be used to kill Iranians Responses: 107 Report: U.S. official says Israel has 'amber light' for Iran strike Responses: 192 Yossi Verter: However we look at 'Olmert Tours' affair, woe to us Responses: 52 Muslim charities targeted by Israel do more than fund terror Responses: 57 Zvi Bar'el: France is a friend of the Arabs because U.S. is a friend of Israel Responses: 32 More Headlines 01:21 Syria sources to Haaretz: We'll grant no goodwill gestures to weak Olmert 00:12 Obama: I used 'poor phrasing' in undivided Jerusalem remark 23:14 Ron Arad's family gets previously unseen photos of missing IAF navigator 22:48 Attorney General: It is not my job to oust prime ministers 23:32 PM aide: Israel has no intention of giving Hezbollah Shaba 21:36 Jewish leaders in Germany slam Holocaust omission from citizenship test 21:06 Olmert vows to free Palestinian prisoners regardless of swap deals 22:27 IDF colonel seriously injured in parachuting accident 20:21 Israeli lifeguard stumbles upon ancient relic during morning swim 15:11 Settler arrested in failed rocket attack on Palestinian town 22:17 Gaza militants fire 2 mortar shells at Israel in further truce violation Previous Editions Select Day 13 jul 11 jul 10 jul 09 jul 08 jul 07 jul 06 jul 04 jul 03 jul 02 jul 01 jul 30 jun

Special Offers Advertisement Fattal Hotel Chain Perfectly located hotels on best resorts of Israel. Israel's Premier Real Estate Website www. israel-property.com Dan Hotels Israel Live the Legend & experience an Unforgettable Summer Vacation Yossi Avrahami Presents: New Luxurious Projects in North Tel Aviv & Eilat Holyland Park Jerusalem Apartment Tower World Class Luxury Right In the heart of Tel-Aviv The Meier on Rothschild tower Your vacation starts here Israel Travel Center Guaranteed Lowest Rates Hebrew Summer courses From $39.95 ISRAEL BONDS Build Israel Israel bonds - a multi-purpose way to celebrate Israel's 60th Eldan Rent a Car Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on all online reservations Junkyard Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt

Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Underground | Site rules |

Real Estate in Israel | Travel to Israel with Haaretz | Hotels Israel | Restaurants Israel | Tourist attractions Israel | Shops Israel

birthright Israel | Search engine marketing

Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.

© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved