Miral

Name: Miral
Genre: Drama
Released: March 25, 2011
Duration: 112 min
Rating: 45
Cast: Freida Pinto, Hiam Abbass, Willem Dafoe

2011

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 13 Ratings

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4.8

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4.8	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 13 Ratings

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Miral

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Movie Details & Credits

Weinstein Company, The | Release Date: March 25, 2011 | R

Starring: Freida Pinto, Hiam Abbass, Willem Dafoe

Summary: Miral is the story of four women whose lives intertwine in the starkly human search for justice, hope and reconciliation amid a world overshadowed by conflict, rage and war. The story begins in war-torn Jerusalem in 1948 when Hind Husseini opens an orphanage for refugee children that quickly becomes home to 2000 orphans. One of the childrenMiral is the story of four women whose lives intertwine in the starkly human search for justice, hope and reconciliation amid a world overshadowed by conflict, rage and war. The story begins in war-torn Jerusalem in 1948 when Hind Husseini opens an orphanage for refugee children that quickly becomes home to 2000 orphans. One of the children is seventeen year old "Miral" who arrived at the orphanage 10 years earlier, following her mother's tragic death. On the cusp of the Intifada resistance, Miral is assigned to teach at a refugee camp where she falls for a fervent political activist, Hani and finds herself in a personal battle that mirrors the greater dilemma around her: to fight like those before her or follow Mama Hind's defiant belief that education will pave a road to peace.(The Weinstein Company)… Expand

Director: Julian Schnabel

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: R

Runtime: 112 min

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Critic Reviews

Owen Gleiberman

Mar 23, 2011

Confused? So is Miral, a film that makes bits and pieces of the Palestinian experience come alive without assembling them into a coherent vision. Read full review

Claudia Puig

Mar 24, 2011

Bogged down by speechifying and a plodding pace, Miral is well-intentioned but doesn't achieve the searing emotional resonance suggested by the story. Read full review

Sheri Linden

Mar 24, 2011

The lack of a compelling lead figure, combined with Schnabel's tentative approach to the material, casts the film's later stretches in the balmy glow of soap opera. Read full review

Justin Chang

Mar 21, 2011

Schnabel's signature blend of splintered storytelling and sobering humanism feels misapplied to this sweeping multigenerational saga. Read full review

Mark Jenkins

Mar 25, 2011

Miral stumbles, both thematically and stylistically. The two things that undermine the director's balance? Peace and love. Read full review

A.O. Scott

Mar 24, 2011

To say that Mr. Schnabel's film is innocuous is not to say that it's any good. Like so many other well-intentioned movies about politically contentious issues, it is hobbled by its own sincerity and undone by a confused aesthetic agenda. Read full review

Kyle Smith

Mar 25, 2011

Combining narrative heavy-handedness with an airy disdain for the details of the situation, director Julian Schnabel gives us a one-sided view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Miral. Read full review

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User Reviews

POV

Apr 3, 2011

I found MIRAL exhilarating. Schnabel receives Jebreal's story with care, and sharpens it with his mastery in painting with an incredible cinematography. His camera work has been characterized as shaky, but i think he is a master of framing; he conveys the unrest of the Israel-PalestineI found MIRAL exhilarating. Schnabel receives Jebreal's story with care, and sharpens it with his mastery in painting with an incredible cinematography. His camera work has been characterized as shaky, but i think he is a master of framing; he conveys the unrest of the Israel-Palestine conflict through his angles, his choice of shots, the jeeringly touching music, and by his thematic taste. Maybe because I watched the film in the Angelika, among many Palestinians and Jews, maybe because I got to spoke to Jebreal and Schnabel after the screening, I am enthusiastic about the significance of the mere action of putting out there a film that concerns this conflict at this given time in history. Whatever the aesthetic and cinematic significance MIRAL shall have in the future, it will definitely make you question where the truth lies in respect to both sides' role in the conflict. Well done.… Expand

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log0fan1

Jul 12, 2011

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Miral doesn't purport to be a history of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict any more than Huckleberry Finn purports to be a history of ante-bellum America. But the experiences it conveys are vivid, powerful and cannot be denied. Maybe that's why certain parties so dislike the film. Complex human realities such as those embodied by well-wrought narrative fiction undermine the either/or talking points of partisans, who, no matter what their persuasion, have never been especially friendly to artistic pursuits. Ignore the posturing and experience Miral for yourself.… Expand

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MarcDoyle

Apr 2, 2011

This film greatly exceeded my expectations. I'm a fan of Julian Schnabel (esp "Diving Bell & The Butterfly"), but I figured the casting of Freida Pinto signaled that the film overly slanted in one direction. I was surprised to see some balance, and I appreciated the focus on education, andThis film greatly exceeded my expectations. I'm a fan of Julian Schnabel (esp "Diving Bell & The Butterfly"), but I figured the casting of Freida Pinto signaled that the film overly slanted in one direction. I was surprised to see some balance, and I appreciated the focus on education, and the danger of putting education aside for the sake of politics and political struggle. Hiam Abbass is outSTANding as the founder of the school for girls, and Miral's father Alexander Siddig does another terrific job in a critical role. The brief historical clips are truly interesting and help to advance the storyline effectively.… Expand

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JLuis_001

Oct 2, 2022

Good intentions and the attitude of discussing the issue are useless if what you sell as a movie, you never approached it that way.
Miral is boring and wearisome; it just goes by and assumes no responsibility.

Saying it was underwhelming is a bit of understatement.

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