Film Review: 'Wajib'
Annemarie Jacir’s 2017 film “Wajib” takes place in Nazareth right before Christmas in the majority Arab city. Abu and his son Shadi (Mohammad Bakri and Saleh Bakri, real-life father and son) go on a day’s journey of hand-delivering wedding invitations for Abu’s daughter and Shadi’s sister, Amal. It is their “wajib,” meaning duty, to go to their family and close friend’s homes to announce the wedding. Driving together from house to house, the day reveals the complexities of their relationship.
While “Wajib” does not have many intense plot twists, the dialogue between father and son unfolds many meaningful layers of the tricky relationship between two different generations and their homeland.
Shadi resides abroad in Rome, where he lives with his girlfriend Nada, the daughter of a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Abu has stayed in Nazareth, which is under Israeli rule. He views Shadi’s decision to leave as betraying his homeland and sees the PLO as a radical, terrorist organization. Abu blatantly ignores Shadi’s relationship and tries to set him up with a local woman, where he can move back to Nazareth. He tells his friends Shadi is a doctor in Italy and planning on returning to Nazareth. Shadi believes his father succumbs to being treated like second-class citizens, where Abu had to learn how to reach a middle ground in order to keep his job as a school teacher and get along with his Israeli coworkers. When they are sitting and conversing in a cafe, Shadi cannot fathom how his father accepts sitting near Israeli soldiers. During the car ride, they bicker over the beautiful architecture of Nazareth, where Shadi despises the ugly tarp that covers it.
Tensions rise as Shadi’s mother and Abu’s ex-wife linger into their conversations. She lives in the U.S., with a man whom she left her family for, leaving Abu to raise Amal and Shadi alone. They find out that she may not be able to attend the wedding, as her husband is on his deathbed. While Shadi is more understanding of why his mother left—as she was unhappy in her marriage and was having an affair, Abu still feels humiliated, as ending marriages are rare and taboo occurrences in Arab communities. They break the news to Amal when she is trying on wedding dresses in a boutique, where she already feels the sadness of her mother being absent from such a pivotal moment in her life.
Their breaking point happens as they are driving to another house when Shadi suddenly stops the car when his father tells him his boss is invited to the wedding, who informs the Israeli government. Shadi storms out of the car—his father following along, which escalates to a yelling match. This scene is extremely raw and emotional, showcasing more than just their relationship, but the more radical and conservative views of how they both view their homeland and what it means to live, or not live there. Abu feels his son lost touch with Palestine and Palestinian culture and Shadi feels his father stays complicit with Israeli occupation and rule.
While “Wajib” does not have many intense plot twists, the dialogue between father and son unfolds many meaningful layers of the tricky relationship between two different generations and their homeland. Jacir did a wonderful job inviting the audience into the lives of Palestinian Christians and their rich culture.
