By: Sam Sastro
Lemon Tree (2008) is a film directed by Eran Riklis. Riklis is an Israeli director, and the film combines both nature and politics to provide a unique perspective on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Salma is the main protagonist of the film and is a Palestinian, while her next-door neighbor is the Israeli minister of defense who lives with his wife Mira. Relationships between the two women are developed subtly through the conflict and represents how nature can act as a barrier in relation to both aiding and causing conflicts in political discourse.
The threat of nature can be representative of a fear of the unknown and how uncontrollable aspects cause fear and anxiety to the Israelis even through they are only a few yards away. The conflict is represented in the film and juxtaposes man-made structures such as guard towers, walls, and armed guards with nature and a single woman who is trying to preserve her land. The contrast of these two aspects can be related to culture and modernity. The support system that Mira had such as her lawyer Ziad, children and other onlookers of the conflict felt connection to the Lemon Trees and the patch. However, when being broadcasted by the Israelis, the urge and the importance created heightened levels of anxiety that dangers lie in the vast lemon trees and pose an imminent threat to Israeli security.
Politics in the film are highlighted by Salma’s lengthy efforts to try and defend her homeland. Her first offer to settle and compromise was for her to get rid of her trees. However, standing her ground both figuratively and literally escalates the situation and represents into a politically charged conflict on a smaller scale: Mira’s homeland of Palestine to her is her family’s home. Riklis emphasized these trees as not only being part of Mira’s homeland however also being passed down by her late father and how these lemon trees represent her family lineage. Nature and the symbolism through roots and stems are representative of not only Salma’s struggles throughout the film however representative of the shared collective trauma of Palestinians through their history with occupation.
Although the film is an intimate take on the Israel-Palestine conflict, the plot and politics can be simplified to an underdog story which have the audience anticipating the ending if Mira will win her “battle” and successfully defend her homeland, her family, and her identity. Potential relationships arise as the wife of the minister, Mira travels through the trees to meet her neighbor to talk. However, they never speak, the effort and the harmless journey to her neighbor’s house show the harmlessness and the beauty in the lemon trees that Riklis captures throughout the film.
The last shot of the movie is the barren field that once housed hundreds of lemon trees separated by a steel wall and now uprooted trees, representative of Salma’s loss in the trial. The implication of nature being the threat is proven wrong with this shot. The desolate nothingness shown implies no “threats” that the Minister Navon implied. The film juxtaposes the Israel and the Palestine border by showing the backyard of the minister followed by his garden and Salma’s backyard. Although hopeful in the context that the trees could grow again as the roots and stems are still intact, the film Lemon Tree shows how nature can be used as a threat in the political sphere.
Works Cited
Riklis, E. (Director). (2008, March 27). Lemon Tree [Film]. IFC Films.
Through an Arabic Lens: the Intersection of Film and Culture 