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Miral: a movie review

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Without an excuse, the blog was once again neglected. As we veer into fall, and likely the last fall I will spend in DC, I'm starting to get excited about cooler weather, crunchy leaves, and pumpkin flavored tasty treats. Having free time is a whole new world of fun. Although we start Hindi classes this weekend, there is absolutely no comparison to the joy of not having to read hundreds of pages of cases per week, look for writing inspiration, edit papers, and deal with those other pesky parts of graduate school. On the other hand, it's really easy to fill those spare hours with projects. Whether it's catching up on my very long to-do list, my DC bucket list, or just going to the gym after work, the newly found spare time has a weird way of going really quickly.

Another project is catching up on books and movies. I recently read Miral, followed quickly by the recently released movie version. The movie, directed by one of my favorites based on his work on the Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Julian Schabel) ran just under 2 hours and the screenplay was written by the same writer of the book. After seeing it, I felt compelled to comment. The book told such a beautiful, intricate story of a young woman's journey to find herself - and told a moving story of the author's experience growing up in the West Bank. The movie was very well done, and a perfect supplement to the book... but it made no sense for viewers who hadn't read the story. I was struck when watching it by how vividly a book can come to life in your mind - the words on the page become so real. I think that's why I loved the movie, even though it made no sense without the book. Watching it was like re-reading the book, with the text still fresh in my head and the limited dialogue perfectly capturing what I'd imagined when I was reading the book. 

So, Miral the movie is recommended highly, but only if you've read the book first (or watch it with someone who did). Although the movie deviated in random ways from the book (what happened to Miral's sister? Why wasn't Lisa as charming and radiant as she sounded in the book? Oh, a little nepotism / the actress is the director's daughter. Right.), it stayed close enough for me to be entertained. 

Unrelatedly, a movie not recommended? The Lincoln Lawyer. I love a good legal drama, but a lawyer's own client essentially holding the lawyer hostage? That's too much of a stretch for this recent law school grad. I guess my days of enjoying even mildly unrealistic legal dramas are over. I'm ok with that. 


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