It Must Be Heaven (Elia Suleiman, 2019)

[therewillbeblus]

It Must Be Heaven is the first Elia Suleiman film I’ve seen but I imagine it encapsulates a kind of thesis for his brand. The performer/director is like a more modest Buster Keaton, who outlines his shots like if Eugène Green tried to make a Roy Andersson film. There is a silent solemnity to the actor’s observational apathy, and yet he keeps moving through it, quietly attempting to participate in what is both a comedy and a tragedy. The Palestinian escape mixed with the lack of validation provided to his script, in a self-reflexive scene, seems to encourage the reading of life as a joke. Suleiman understands that this uncomfortable truth begets a worldview that isn’t necessarily funny though.

This deadpan comedy is reminiscent of a lot of modern absurdist cinema, with some witty visual ideas and well choreographed eccentric behavior. Fans of this type of film know who they are (I’m one of them, but my barometer wavers a bit) and after the first five minutes you pretty much know what you’re in for. This film doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but just when I thought it was going to fall into a thin veil of expected beats, I detected a very honest pathos that kept me wondering whether this was actually taking the absurdist model and saying something more profound, and potentially new, with old familiar tricks.

[swo17]

It's basically Elia Goes International with a little more of the goofiness (e.g. the security wand scene) from Divine Intervention. The Time That Remains is in a similar vein but more "serious" and, I think, deeply satisfying

[therewillbeblus]

The security wand scene was silly, though the police chasing the fairy was my favorite. Tati is probably the biggest influence, but the ironic twist is that the societal disillusionment is the same or magnified as he 'breaks free' from the oppression/dissatisfaction and banality of his homeland. He finds much of the same plus he gets bothered arguably more as an outsider - and has his own identity and insider perspective on his culture invalidated, reducing his sense of isolation even tighter. Stephen McHattie showing up is always cool though, as is another brief cameo that made me smile.

[swo17]

I loved the fairy scene. And the way the students dressed in the college class

[zedz]

This is the weakest of Suleiman's features so far, by quite a large margin, so I'd encourage you to see his other three. I think The Time That Remains is his masterpiece, but Divine Intervention isn't far behind. Both are much more politically sharp and balance his Keatonian comedic chops with serious themes in a much more satisfying way.

[therewillbeblus]

That’s good to know since I didn’t love this film despite finding plenty of clever ideas involved. I’ll check it out thanks!