The Time That Remains: Political or Anti-political?

The film The Time That Remains, created by Elia Suleiman, is a personal account of the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 to present day. The film was inspired by Suleiman’s Fathers’ private diaries from when he was a resistance fighter in 1948. He also used his Mothers’ letters to family members that had to leave the country as well as his on memories of what happened. The main goal of the film was to attempt to portray daily life of the Palestinians that were living as minorities in their own homeland. Elia Suleiman also acts in this film without any dialogue and shows an image of his younger self. The film blends different styles, including repetition style comic relief and dark humor to tell some of the serious topics in the movie.

When thinking about the audience that this movie is most likely targeted towards, it seems like it was catered to young adults and beyond. In order to really get the full experience of the movie, one would have to know some context about the conflict between the Israeli’s and Palestinians. Also, some context on the author is essential because this movie is a personal account about his childhood experiences in his hometown Nazareth and his families’ accounts on the Israeli conflict. Although some teens would probably understand this movie, they may not have learned all that they needed to know in order to get the full experience of the film.

One quote by Elia Suleiman comes to mind while watching and talking about this film. In an interview with Daniel Tkatch of the Political Critique, Elia Suleiman stated, “A film can only be political or anti-political; it’s never apolitical”. From the last part of the quote we know that the film The Time That Remains clearly is not apolitical according to Elia Suleiman. So, that leaves the question whether it is political or anti-political?

Based on the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the film, the movie seemed more anti-political, especially towards the Israeli government. In the scene when his father was arrested it painted the Israeli Military as brutal. There were also many other scenes throughout the movie that showed just how brutal and cruel the Israeli Military could be. For example, the scenes where they displaced Palestinians, and also when they killed innocent people. The film is not political because the film has more anti-government sentiments then pro-government sentiments.

Overall, this film does an amazing job in blending a personal account on the rise of the Israeli state with some historical facts. Due to the fact that the film showed a more Palestinian view of Israeli conflict, there probably was some backlash from the Israeli people and government. It was really interesting seeing Elia Suleiman, a Palestinian director’s, view of how the daily life of Palestinians was during this time period to present day. Even though the film obviously gave the audience a Palestinian account on what happened with the Israeli state, it is only fair to do so since they were the ones displaced from their homeland.