Title: THE GREEN PRINCE
Music Box Films
Reviewed for Shockya by Harvey Karten. Data-based on Rotten Tomatoes
Grade: B+
Director: Nadav Schirman
Screenplay: Nadav Schirman based on Mosab Hassan Yousef’s book, Son of Hamas
Cast: Mosab Hassan Yousef, Gonen Ben Yitzhak
Screened at: Review 2, NYC, 5/19/14
Opens: August 8, 2014
Of course traitors are despised by their countrymen, since, after all, what crime is worse than selling out your own people? On the other hand, you would think that such turncoats would be welcomed, even loved by the countries to which they give valuable information. You might be wrong there. People have contempt for sell-outs on both sides, considered despicable whether they commit their actions for money or for ideology. Such is the case involving Mosab Hassan Yousef, a resident of Ramallah and the son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, the fiery leader of Hamas in the West Bank. You’d think that he would be the last person to sell out, given his birthright, especially since he believed in everything his rabble-rousing father stands for and who developed his own hatred for Israel, the force which had been occupying his land for decades. But life offers daily surprises. When Mosab is arrested by Israeli forces, he is horrified by the tortures inflicted by Hamas prisoners on their own people: fingernails dug under, burning plastic devices attached to chests, the shouts drowned out by blaring TVs. When he compares the brutish behavior of the terrorist organization to the kind treatment he receives from Israeli Shin Bet agent Gonen Ben Yitzhak, he is ready to cross over. “The Green Prince” is the astonishing story that surrounds the entire decade that Mosab, befriended and even adored by the Israeli representative of Shin Bet, that country’s intelligence agency.
While the story will be forthcoming as a narrative, Nadav Schirman’s film, based on Mosab’s own book Son of Hamas, is a documentary, therefore being presumably a true account of this unusual friendship. Though some of the action is recreated, “The Green Prince” is notable for stunning archival film taken in the West Bank and for the testimony given by both Gonen and Mosab to the camera.
What drags the film down, however, is a flaw endemic to documentaries (except for those by Michael Moore, Errol Morris and Morgan Spurlock among others): and that is the use of talking heads. It’s stifling enough to watch docs in which most of the running time is spent between interviewer and subjects: in this case, the two principals, in separate locations most of the time, talk directly to the cameras as though delivering long soliloquies, and what’s more the cameras are stationary rather than shooting the subjects from various angles to retain audience interest.
The procedural flaws, however, are submerged by the story’s substance, one presumably unknown to most people before the appearance of Mosab’s book, the current documentary, and the narrative which is expected shortly. The Green Prince, Mosab’s Israeli codename, is questioned by a deceptively gentle Gonen Ben Yitzhak, who acts toward him as though a member of his family. Even without the expert treatment by the skilled Shin Bet operative, Mosab already hates what Hamas is doing, committing violence against civilians as well as occupiers via suicide bombs and missiles lobbed into Israel. What stands out is that while Gonen is obviously acting according to his training, which has instructed him on the best ways to recruit Palestinians for the Israeli cause, Gonen truly likes Mosab and does not consider that he is “handling” him. This action culminates in Gonen’s taking risks after his Arab friend arrives in San Diego, requesting asylum and being initially thwarted by the Department of Homeland Security. Though dismissed from Shin Bet from giving too many goodies to Mosab—presents, stays in Israeli hotels, actions which are deplored by the agency and presumably by most Israeli citizens—he goes to bat for the fellow by traveling to the U.S. to join Mosab’s petition. This provides a Hollywood ending to a story that yields honest sentiment, giving the audience a feel for what it might ideally be like if a peace between Israel and the Arab world actually took place.
Unrated. 101 minutes. © 2014 by Harvey Karten, Member, New York Film Critics Online
Story – A-
Acting – B
Technical – B+
Overall – B+
