Just when news from the Middle East couldn't be more wrenching comes "Promises," a documentary about the children of the region's age-old conflict, which, if they are any indication, shows little hope of resolution.
Shuttling back and forth between refugee camps and Jerusalem, Goldberg elicits the predictable monologues: one-sided historical arguments ("They think it's their land," Moishe says of the Palestinians, "but we know it's ours"), regurgitations of appalling stereotypes, moments of self-pity that, quite possibly, have been exaggerated for the camera. But eventually some unexpected, and often contradictory, truths emerge: It turns out that Yarko and Daniel, for example, are more frightened of the deep religiosity of Shlomo and his family than they are of Palestinians. And Shlomo himself, after explaining why he never has anything to do with the Arab kids in his community, suddenly engages in a burping contest with a passing Arab boy, to the wordless delight of both.
It's these spontaneous sequences that make "Promises" an extraordinary film. Admirably, the filmmakers have eschewed can't-we-just-get-along sentimentality. Instead, they've taken an honest look at the reasons peace in Israel has been so elusive, portraying with breathtaking clarity the depth of the mutual misconceptions of people whose fates are so intertwined. And they show the roots of those fatal misunderstandings, as hostilities and selective histories are passed to each generation. In these kids -- now young adults -- we see people whose identities are so dependent on constantly reliving and avenging the past that they cannot accept the present, however flawed, and are almost congenitally unable to conceive of a shared future.
Although the filmmakers are interested in Israeli and Palestinian children as victims -- and unconscious vectors -- of war, they also take the time to show the realities, and commonalities, of their lives outside the context of the conflict. Thus we see one of the twins break down in tears after a volleyball loss, then see Faraj do the very same thing after losing a track meet. Perhaps most profoundly, we watch Mahmoud and Shlomo pray, the iconography of their devotion so strikingly similar, and so tragically lost on each other.
The culminating event of "Promises," which was nominated for an Academy Award this year for best documentary feature, is a meeting between Yarko, Daniel and Faraj at the latter's home in the Deheishe refugee camp. After some initial nervousness, the boys bond over food and soccer, and by the end of the day Yarko admits that, although he doesn't agree with Faraj's radical politics, he understands his position and would probably take it himself were their roles reversed. Considering that Goldberg's other Jewish correspondents have steadfastly refused even to meet their Arab counterparts, it's a philosophical leap of heroic proportions.
"Promises" ends on a dispiriting note, especially in light of the past several weeks. Goldberg returned to Israel in 2000 to re-interview his subjects. Their voices had changed, their faces and views had hardened, and, regrettably, Yarko and Daniel had all but forgotten about Faraj, who had continued to reach out to them until they stopped returning his phone calls. One can't help but speculate on the cost of his not getting an answer.
Promises (106 minutes, at Visions Cinema Bistro Lounge) is unrated. In English, Hebrew and Arabic with English subtitles.
Moishe, a young militant, with two friends in "Promises."
