The Other Son (2012)

SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

Crappy film

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

For some reason, European films only use subtitles when the characters are not speaking in English. As the actors usually have strong accents they are unintelligible when they do use English. I also had a feeling that even when the actors were speaking in Arabic, French or Hebrew we were not always getting subtitles. Captioning was greatly missed.The other big problem was the miscasting. Jules Sutrik does not look Palestinian, being too light skinned, and did not look at all like his biological brother Bilal. Likewise, Mehdi Dehbi was just a little too dark and more strongly resembled Bilal than either of his Jewish 'parents'. The film would have worked much better if the actors had alternated the roles, as it was I found the miscasting distracting to the point of being unbelievable, rather like a vanity piece where an actor shows off by playing against type or sex. The switched at birth plot is as old as Methuselah and a favorite of Shakespeare, Gilbert and Sullivan and many others. Although it was interesting, the storyline became very corny at times with the families coming together just a little too quickly.

"The Other Son" (2012 release from France/Israel; 105 min.) brings the story of 2 boys who are about to reach their 18th birthday. As the movie opens, we see Joseph applying to enlist at an elite unit of the Israeli Air Force, requiring him to do various medicals tests. It isn't long before his parents learn that Joseph's blood type (A+) is not compatible with theirs (A=). After some investigating, it becomes clear that two babies were switched accidentally at birth. The other 18 year old is Yacine, whose family lives in Palestine's West Bank. Joseph is devastated when he finds out about the mix-up at birth. But what about Yacine in Palestine? And how will their families react? And their friends? To tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.Couple of comments: first, kudos to writer-director Lorraine Lévy for bringing us this movie. The plot is entirely believable, and Levy treats the subject matter with dignity and respect. As you can well imagine, this is a delicate topic and if not done properly, it will ruin the movie. When the impact of it all hits Joseph, he wonders "Am I still Jewish?". Even more importantly, this movie shows again that, when you put politics aside for a moment, at the end of the day we are dealing with real human beings. Watch how the Jewish and Palestine mothers deal with the news that the sons they have raised are not their own...Bottom line: this movie should be required viewing for anyone interested in the Israeli-Palestine conflict. No, "The Other Son" is NOT a political movie, but instead is a heartbreaking family drama with a political undercurrent. "The Other Son" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

I'd reached the point some time ago where I stopped watching films about the holocaust and the intractable Palestine-Israel situation. Then I saw a review of this film that suggested something other than bleak, bleak, bleak and get out the razor for humanity's wrist. So I watched it.It took the life-affirming premise that even in the worst of situations, which the dispossessed Palestinians have been enduring for more than 60 years, people generally want to live, laugh, have friends, love and, most of all, stay alive. Strapping explosives to your chest is NOT the norm there, even for impressionable young men.What I saw was a very human story of parents and children trying to come to terms with a sudden reversal of reality. Messy, untidy, forcing a rethink of lifelong prejudices in the face of a farcical bureaucratic mix-up.The mothers ache with a visceral sense of loss. The fathers quietly rage (and in one sequence not so quietly) in their dumbfoundment. The kid sisters take people as they find them. The boys are stupefied .. to begin with. Then the everyday takes over. Having to absorb it all, then go on living. And all get wiser, a little more worldly, a little less inclined to stereotype. A little richer.Unlikely? I don't think so. As has often been observed, "Travel broadens the mind." And there's nothing like a good emotional somersault to do exactly that. People can and do change. It didn't feel like a film, more like watching through hidden cameras as life unfolds.

I found this rather unique film, directed by Lorraine Levy, to be an engaging and touching drama.When Joseph Silberg (Jules Sitruk) goes for his pre-induction physical into the Israeli army, his blood work shocks his parents, Orith and Alon (Emmaneulle Devos/ Pascal Elbe), when his type A+ cannot genetically be possible with theirs of A-. When their doctor investigates it, he finds out that, at the beginning of the Gulf War in 1991, right after Orith gave birth to Joseph, the hospital in Haifa was evacuated during a SCUD missile attack.The hospital mistakenly switched her baby boy with a Palestinian woman's baby and DNA tests have confirmed this. The Palestinian woman, Leila (Areen Omari) had been visiting a relative in the area but is now living in the Israeli occupied West Bank with her husband Said (Khalifa Natour), the boy Yacine (Mehdi Dehbi) now nearly 18 years old and the rest of her family.When the parents of the two boys are brought together in the doctor's office, it triggers an enormous amount of emotion and dramatic interplay. I thought it was fascinating to see how each family member reacted to the shocking news, as well as each of their respective communities. Could decades of conflict and mistrust be overcome by kinship and family? I'll let the viewers see the results for themselves.All in all, I thought Levy and her co-writers did an excellent job of presenting the material in a very engrossing manner. The acting, I thought was first rate as well. Even if it is a little contrived, I enjoyed this different type of drama.