Reviews

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  ★★★★½ review by Captain Kirk on Letterboxd

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  Film #13 of "Scavenger Hunt - September 2015" Challenge!
  
  Task #23: A obscure film from a friend's year-end top 10 list!
  
  letterboxd.com/kirkless/list/scavenger-hunt-september-2015/
  
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  Thank you to my good friend Brad for the recommendation off of his Top 10 Docs of 2014 List. Brad is an avid documentary watcher and has never steered me wrong on a documentary recommendation.

  The Green Prince is a fascinating documentary about real life espionage between Israel and Palestine. Listening to the testimonies given is riveting and despite all of the conflict between Hamas and Israel's Shin Bet, the story still manages to be uplifting and life-affirming.

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  ★★★½ review by Matt on Letterboxd

  The story is fascinating and made me want to seek out the Book it's based on. What is most interesting about this documentary is that the whole film is only two interview subjects. The subject matter is thrilling but not always exciting to listen to but pays off with a pretty heartwarming conclusion. I'm surprised it hasn't been adapted into a Hollywood feature but the story is one of those stranger than fiction tales. I wasn't always intrigued by the story and the Israeli - Palestine conflict sometimes confuses me but this is an extraordinary story that we are lucky enough to hear right from the subject's mouth.

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  ★★★★ review by Dr Eldon Tyrell on Letterboxd

  It actually took me right to the end of this film to realise that a: it was actually a documentary and b: the the 'actors' were the main people involved in the story. This is testament to the incredible story that is playing out in front of you and the fantastically well handled storyboarding, pacing and direction.

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  ★★★★½ review by aldermachine on Letterboxd

  This is one of the most incredible stories I have ever heard. It's told in near perfect form in this outstanding documentary. A finely tuned and coherent presentation of emotional interviews, archival footage, and reenacted scenes that all work together pretty seamlessly to immerse you in an almost unbelievable story rising from the very heart of the Israeli Palistinian conflict.

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  ★★★★ review by Jason Bailey on Letterboxd

  Something of a non-fiction version of this spring’s 'Bethlehem,' director Schirman uses the visual language of a political thriller to tell the riveting twisty spy story of Mosab Hassan Yousef, son of a top Hamas leader, who became an informant for Israel’s Shin Bet security force. Schirman uses surveillance video, archival footage, and re-enactments to illustrate the story, while interviewing only two men: Yousef himself, and Gonen Ben Yitzhak, the agent who recruited him. Both men are articulate and thoughtful, particularly Yousef , who comes across as simultaneously regretful and pragmatic. And the film thankfully soft-sells its clearest theme: by focusing on the bond (a “bond of truth”) that these two diametrically opposed men shared, 'The Green Prince' underscores this long-standing conflict ultimately boils down to the choices of individuals.

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