Rana's Wedding Film Analysis

An Analytical Observation of the struggles of Palestinian Women and Political Tension in “Rana’s Wedding” Hany Abu-Assad’s film “Rana’s Wedding” begins with Rana, the main protagonist. She wakes up in her bed replaying her father’s voice in her head explaining that she must either pick a man from the provided list to marry by four o’clock or accompany him to Egypt to finish her studies. The bachelors on the list are all from high social statuses and successful professions, but none of them are men that Rana wants to marry. She wishes to marry her true love Khalil, a film director whom her father disapproves of, and decides to find him and the marriage registrar before her father’s departure. After making this decision Rana anxiously leaves …show more content…
Since this film was based around Rana’s quest for marriage, I will focus on the marital struggles for women in Palestine. In the concept of marriage women have significantly fewer rights compared to men. The first example of the issues of marriage in “Rana’s Wedding” is Rana’s father providing her a list of “suitable” men to take her hand in marriage. Instead of allowing his daughter to be happy and marry whomever she desires, he attempts to prevent this by giving her an ultimatum. He tells her to either pick from the provided list or travel to Egypt with him. This example in the film shows that Palestinian women typically have decisions made for them instead of allowing them to be independent and decide on their own. It was a refreshing sight to see Rana display this act of courage and disobey her father to marry the man she actually loved. Another example in the film that depicts marital struggle is Rana’s father’s continued unwillingness to support his daughter and help facilitate the wedding. Even after Rana had managed to organize her wedding in one day her father was still unable to aid them. In the end Rana was able to marry regardless of her father’s thoughts. Besides the struggles Palestinian women are forced to endure, Hany Abu Assad displays many politically motivated events throughout Rana’s journey. The …show more content…
The director’s political intent was to display the persecutions Palestinians are forced to endure by the Israelis, he shows this through a number of ways. First being the constant tedious roadblocks Palestinians are required to pass through to get to their destinations. These checkpoints are seen constantly in the film and cause problems for Rana as she organizes her wedding. Next was when Rana is angrily running through the streets in her desperate search for Khalil, she eventually stops and begins screaming furiously. Nearby soldier's hear the young woman and automatically aim their firearms at her. This scene is powerful because it shows how intense the political tension between the two groups actually is. The final scene and perhaps the most impactful, was where Rana was caught between a crossfire between Palestinians and Israelis. Except they were Palestinian civilians throwing rocks at Israeli soldiers, who in response, were firing weapons back at the civilians and eventually injuring a boy by shooting him in the leg. This scene was an obvious depiction of the persecution of Palestinians, that Israeli soldiers were willing to use firearms against civilians armed only with rocks. These three scenes are powerful displays of the political tension between these two groups of people. The director was able to provide a clear