In a landscape of historical subversions and reinterpretations, Palestine 36 tells the story straight. Before revolution brings violent coherence as writer-director Annemarie Jacir’s cast of all-too-familiar archetypes juggle developments in Palestine over the course of 1936. There’s the introspective youth Yusuf (Karim Daoud Anaya), who moves from Palestinian villages ravaged by unhinged military man Captain Wingate (Robert Aramayo), and the quarrelling couple Khouloud and Amir (Yasmine Al Massri and Dhafer L’Abidine), who run a newspaper. The sympathetic but naïve diplomat Thomas (Billy Howle), gives up his pretence of relevance and checks himself out early.
A subtle execution tends to pick up where originality fails. A quiet, careful Anaya complements writing in which political disagreements feel modern, personal and pervasive, without the flying furniture to which less secure handling resorts. Speaking of modern politics, this provocatively titled film avoids the current battle lines. It focuses exclusively on the struggle of Palestinians, then, whose modern relevance touches the viewer through implication. It is therefore powered by a desire for historical accuracy. Occasionally, this devolves into lazy, newspaper-headline storytelling, but at its best it cuts between historical footage and new material and achieves the awed emotional resonance of connecting history with the present.