Lemon Tree

I grew up in a small town in Northern California called Newark. Newark was significant geographically for two reasons. One, its natural salt beds, and two, it was the place with the shortest distance across the San Francisco Bay. During the California Gold Rush era when San Francisco grew in leaps and bounds, many Swiss, German, and Portugese farmers moved to Newark to raise beef, milk, and hay, with a emphasis on dairy products. San Francisco was growing so quickly, that these small family farms were invaluable to the booming city, and their produce was easily ferried across the bay for consumption. Later when the first bridge was built, Newark became a transportation hub where cargo from San Francisco’s shipping industry could be trucked all over the west.

During war time, Newark once again became very valuable as a distribution site. In addition, its small farms continued to feed the heavily rationed area. But, when the war was over and prosperity returned, the family farms started to get squeezed out. My family moved to Newark in the early sixties. Farms were being bought out to make room for new housing developments. Although I was very young, I got there just in time to see one of the last cattle round-ups, and I have some very vivid memories of watching sheep shearing, hog butchering, and the plucking of chickens. One by one these small family farms were being taxed out of existence. City government was just too strong for the independent farmer. 

Today when I saw Lemon Tree, it reminded me of one family farm I used to visit. It was run by an older couple and they were desperately trying to hold on to their home while a city grew up around them. Lemon Tree takes place in Israel on the green line border between Israel and the West Bank. On one side, the new Israeli Minister Of Defense has just moved into his new home, and on the other side is an Palestinian widow, living alone, trying to hold on to her family’s lemon grove that the Army had ordered to be cut down for security reasons. In this legal drama, based on a true incident, Salma Hidane, hauntingly played by Hiam Abbass, takes her case all the way to the Israeli Supreme Court, creating a media frenzy and a political hot button issue.

I thought this film was wonderful. The political aspect of the movie was put in the background, while the human side of things was placed in the forefront. I loved how the widow and the Minister’s wife were able to communicate without ever speaking. The subtext in this film is as rich as the soil beneath the lemon trees. I highly recommend this film.

In multiple languages with English subtitles

Rating: First Run    A beautiful story that needed to be told