This beautifully acted and scripted film captured my heart from beginning to end. So many lessons to be learned in this age of social media "friendships," which are not friendships at all. Face to face, and the sharing of time together in the exchange of ideas, and hopes for their respective futures. The man, a British soldier, Sgt Dunlop, and the young boy, Proffy, who is in need of an adult male model because his father is otherwise preoccupied. Not a bad father, just not engaged with his son. Both the adult soldier and the young boy gave and received something in the conversations between them. Precisely what should happen in a friendship and precisely what is not happening in the lives of our youths today. I am sure I will be watching this film again.

I did not find this movie convincing. It did not seem like it was naturally set in 1947, it seemed like a more modern film. The dialog often seems false, and unrealistic as well. Finally, did they REALLY need to sexualize the story? It could have been a moving story about a little boy and a British officer, but no, they had to inject phony "coming of age" sexuality needlessly into the story, and all that did was weaken the movie.

A very heartfelt film about a friendship between a Jewish boy and British soldier. They both had something to learn from the other and each loved the other as a true friend. Given the time in history; this would be a rarity that this occurred. This film portrays beautifully that when we open our hearts to those whom we otherwise would not; beautiful friendships can develop. I highly recommend this clean thought provoking film. You will not be disappointed!

A little Jewish boy befriends a British Soldier during British occupation of Israel.
Excellent acting: Boy: Ido Port. Soldier: Alfred Molina. Jewish Leader: Theodore Bikel.
Port play in three other films when he was younger. I can't find any information on him as an adult.
Molina is of course a great actor with dozens of movies
Bikel was an actor, singer. A very popular Folk Singer during the 1960's (He was part of my childhood) He died in 2015
This is a nice movie for the whole family.

It's helpful to have some historical knowledge of the setting of this film to give it greater depth. That being said, I thought it was well worth seeing in and of itself. This is the story of a young boy coming of age in uncertain times. He discovers a lot about what really constitutes friendship and what is meaningful in life. I found some parts very moving and the youngster's acting quite impressive as he fights to understand an adult world.

I haven't given a five-star review to a movie in a long time. This one deserves it. Well-directed, everything in it is believable, nothing is over-done and it has a powerful ending.

The story is a tale of common humanity between "enemies".

See this movie.

This movie was, in my opinion, one of the best I have seen in years. It was re-written for the screen from a book by a famous Israeli author named Amos Oz. It shows a sensitivity that goes beyond words with respect to a child's relationship with a singular member of his people's enemy, namely a British Sergeant who was a part of the Palestinian Protectorate force that was established after WWI. The movie was moving and the characters were portrayed with skill and emotional perfection. It showed a positive relationship between Arab and Jew and even a slight possibility of peace for when the UN granted the Jewish people the right to have their own homeland in Palestine. It encapsulated actual scenes from the celebration that took place following the vote of the United Nations and melded these black and white scenes with precision into the context of the movie. Fantastic, Moving, Emotional, Educational are just some of the adjectives I could apply to this film.
SMS

This was a fair and balanced view of the occupation of Israel through the eyes of a young boy. The acting was exceptional and the suspense kept me captivated. This is a wonderful movie, but I recommend that viewers with children would be ready to fast forward through some mature parts, if young children are watching. I loved the innocence of the boy and the British soldier. There is so much sex and violence in most movies. It was refreshing to watch kindness and generosity develop between the soldier and the young boy. These two captured my heart with their open-hearted friendship. I wish we all could be so accommodating with those we don't know. This is a great movie and I highly recommend it.