Eran Riklis doesn't like to describe himself as an Israeli director but a film-maker of the world, and Lemon Tree (Cert PG) is a pretty even-handed depiction of what he calls Middle Eastern madness.
Palestinian widow Salma (the splendid Hiam Abbass) lives an uneventful life on the West Bank until the new Israeli defence minister moves into a house on the far side of her beloved lemon grove which is promptly deemed a security risk and ordered to
be uprooted. But Salma fights the edict, persuading a young lawyer to take her case to the Israeli Supreme Court.
It sounds a typical David and Goliath story but Riklis makes it more complex. While the minister's lonely wife shows sympathy for Salma even if she is powerless to do anything, Palestinian politicians disapprove, especially of her close relationship with the lawyer. In addition to being a heart-rending drama of politics and injustice, The Lemon Tree contains moments of surreal humour
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