- yesterday
A woman story about him
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00The movie opens with a man entering the room. The setting is in 1967, a few months before the
00:05Six-Day War. The man, Marwan, gives a passport to the woman, Manal, who is waiting inside.
00:11They are lovers who work for the Palestinian government. Marwan explains that she must go
00:15to Israel to become a spy, under the name of Rachel. She needs to find General Yehuda,
00:20who holds the war plans. Rachel must get those plans so they can stop the beginning of the war.
00:25Then the two embrace passionately, as it's most likely their last time to meet.
00:29Rachel successfully integrates herself in Israel. She easily gets close to Yehuda without generating
00:34suspicions. And then, the ending credits show. This is the last scene of the first episode of
00:41the television drama, Tel Aviv on Fire. One may think that Marwan and Rachel are the stars in this
00:47movie, but that's not the case. In fact, the real protagonist of this movie is Salam. He's a
00:53Palestinian working as an inexperienced production manager whose real job is to make coffee for the
00:59production staff. Salam is hired by Bassem, his uncle, because he knows Arabic and can correct
01:04pronunciations. He's awkward around the set. There's a point where he interrupts the filming
01:09by bringing in a large painting. Everyone tolerates Salam because of his role, and because he's the
01:15producer's nephew. They're currently filming a scene where Yehuda and Rachel are supposed to
01:20discreetly flirt with each other. Salam can't help but interrupt when the actor for Yehuda calls Rachel
01:25explosive. Salam points out that it's more sensible to call the character attractive.
01:30Tala, the actress for Rachel, agrees with Salam. But the scriptwriter, Wafa, insists that the word
01:36explosive is the right term. Atef sides with Wafa. The other scriptwriter, Nabil, is quite indecisive,
01:43so he's useless in making decisions. In the end, it's Bassem who settles disputes, and he agrees with
01:49Tala that the word attractive should be used. Upset, Wafa walks out. During the break,
01:54Salam hears her questioning why the French diva Tala is hired instead of one of the numerous
01:58talented Palestinian actresses. Before Bassem can answer, Salam calls him to ask for his salary.
02:04This is Salam's first job in a long time, so he's very sensitive with his salary. Bassem gives him
02:09a couple of notes, then chides him for chiming in. Later, Salam lines up for the checkpoint between
02:14the borders. This is an everyday routine for him, so he's neutral about it. He sees the soldier
02:19checking his ID, and he notices that she's very pretty. Salam is still hung up over the explosive
02:25versus attractive debate earlier. So he asks the soldier if it's offensive to call a woman
02:31explosive. Perhaps this isn't the best question to ask a female soldier, or that she's not in a
02:36good mood. Salam is brought to the office of the soldier who heads the checkpoint. The soldier's name
02:42is Asi. Salam explains that he's only using an expression, and has nothing to do with real
02:47explosives. But Asi tells him to keep quiet. Through interrogation, Asi finds out Salam works
02:53on the production set of the famous television series, Tel Aviv, On Fire. Another soldier comes
02:59in, giving Asi the script for the next episode, found inside Salam's car. Asi thinks Salam is the
03:05writer, Salam just goes with the notion. Asi says his wife loves the show, although he doesn't
03:10understand why. He also scoffs at the love triangle among Rachel and her two lovers, Marwan and Yehuda.
03:17Then, Asi asks Salam for spoilers for the final episode. Salam says that's the secret they
03:22shouldn't talk about. But Asi insists on knowing. Since Salam genuinely doesn't know, he tricks the
03:28soldier by asking him what he thinks he is. Asi quickly answers that he wants Rachel and Yehuda
03:33to get married. Again, Salam just goes with it. Eventually, Asi lets him go. When he comes home that
03:39night, Asi finds the women of his family glued to the current episode of the series. He tells them
03:44he has the script for the next episode. His mother immediately asks for spoilers but his wife doesn't
03:49believe him. His wife wants Rachel and Marwan to end up together because to her, Marwan is romantic
03:55and a gentleman. But Asi contradicts his wife. With conviction, he says Rachel and Yehuda will end up
04:02together instead. The next day at the checkpoint, Salam is stopped by Asi again. The soldier berates
04:07him for portraying Yehuda in a crude manner. In addition, the dialogues between soldiers are
04:12not believable. This hurts Asi's pride as part of the military. So, he gives Salam pointers on how
04:18the soldiers should talk. Once he arrives at work, Salam talks to his uncle about his suggestion based
04:24on Asi's inputs. But Basim tells him to put it in writing. So, Salam does. In a test shoot, Tala and
04:31the actor for Yehuda, Karim, use Salam's dialogues. The dialogue shows how Rachel is trying to use
04:37empathy to get closer to Yehuda. It's in line with the romantic angle and Rachel's role as a spy,
04:42and way different from the original script. To Salam's surprise, everyone likes it. Of course,
04:47Wafa doesn't, which is why she resigns as the scriptwriter. Basim assigns his nephew to continue
04:52writing Yehuda's line, and to work closely with Nabil and Atef. Following this promotion, Salam visits
04:58the grocery store owned by Mariam's father. Mariam is Salam's ex, and he hopes to see her to tell the
05:04good news. Mariam comes out, and when she learns about Salam's promotion, she can't believe it.
05:10When they were still together, Mariam knew that Salam was unreliable and unable to keep a job.
05:15This was why she broke up with him. But now, Salam is coming back and doing his best to show that
05:20he's changed. Still, Mariam won't believe him. Salam offers her a fig, a fruit of love. She corrects him
05:28saying tomatoes are the fruit of love. Salam follows her outside. Mariam turns to him,
05:33setting the record straight. She's happy that he's turning his life around, but she thinks
05:37there's no more chance for them to get back together. Salam feels down after this. But at
05:42least at work, he's now a proper scriptwriter. The only problem is, he's never written a script in
05:48his life. What happened earlier was a pure stroke of luck. Now Salam needs to put out something,
05:55or else he'll get fired. He goes to a coffee shop hoping to get inspiration. He needs to write the
06:00scene where Rachel is flirting with Yehuda. Her goal is to retrieve the key that opens the drawer
06:05containing the war plans. Unfortunately for Salam, no inspiration comes to mind. So he goes to Asi to
06:11ask for help, knowing that Asi's suggestions are good. Asi agrees, but with two conditions. First,
06:18Salam must bring him high-quality hummus. Second, the series must end with Rachel and Yehuda marrying each
06:23other. Sourcing high-quality hummus is easy, but changing the ending needs to be planned and decided
06:29carefully. Still, after Salam gives his word, Asi agrees to help. And this is the scene he helps
06:34craft. Rachel brings Yehuda a box of desserts. Then she notices the general's tired countenance.
06:40She offers to massage his shoulders. It's then that she finds the key, worn by the general around
06:45his neck. Everyone is impressed with Salam's scriptwriting. With everyone in a good mood,
06:50Salam takes his chance to discuss the ending. He proposes that Rachel and Yehuda should get married.
06:56But Bassam is already set with his preferred ending, taking inspiration from another film,
07:01The Maltese Falcon. Bassam says that Rachel is conflicted between her love for Yehuda and her
07:06duty to her country. So her solution is to blow both of them up. Salam finds out that it's not easy
07:12to change his uncle's mind. But for now, he must focus on Yehuda's next scene. It's a complicated one,
07:18where the general must show his deep affection for Rachel. Asi suggests the general should kiss the spy.
07:23It should be a kiss that will change everything for her. Also, Asi asks Salam for a favor.
07:28Salam should include Asi's photo among the props displayed in the scene,
07:32so his wife will know he's secretly involved in the series' scriptwriting.
07:36Asi feels proud that he gets a hand in developing a story that millions of viewers love.
07:40He prepares two glasses of wine, one for his wife, and joins her in watching the episode that
07:45includes the kissing scene. To his disappointment, and his wife's amusement, the kiss shown is as chaste
07:51as an uncle greeting his niece. The kiss scene makes major headlines the next day, and not in a good
07:56way. Bassam says the financiers want Marwan back. Meanwhile, Karim talks to Salam, and asks him to
08:02show the darker side of Yehuda. This is also what Bassam raises when they discuss the direction of the
08:08story. The producer supports what the financiers want, so he insists that Rachel and Yehuda should
08:13be separated, and she must return to Marwan. Salam argues that the viewers love the general falling
08:19for the spy angle. They can't just cook up something without proper thoughts. They come up with several
08:24ideas, including terminating Rachel's character so they can hire another actress with a cheaper
08:28talent fee. But the financiers want Tala for her star power, so that option is not feasible. They also
08:34can't remove Yehuda's character as he's a principal role in the story. Eventually, Salam comes up with an
08:39idea. It's dramatic, without changing the whole story, and no one perishes. In the next episode,
08:44the whole nation is shocked to find out that Rachel has cancer. This generates a major buzz among the
08:50viewers, but two notable people are not happy about this. First is Asi. He kidnaps Salam, just to find
08:57out why Rachel suddenly has cancer. He has completely believed Rachel and Yehuda will end up marrying.
09:03Salam appeases the soldier by saying that Rachel will still live. In television, cancer can be cured
09:08like toothache, Salam says. Anything is possible. Asi eventually releases Salam, but he takes his ID
09:14as insurance. The next person to not accept the cancer storyline is Tala. However, this is more
09:20on aesthetics. She doesn't want to wear the chemo wig because she won't look beautiful. It's Atef and
09:25Bassam who tell Salam that Tala threatens to return to Paris if something is not done to the storyline.
09:31In the midst of this chaos, Salam receives a lovely call. It's from Mariam. Apparently,
09:36she has watched the episodes. She has recognized that a lot of things in the dialogues were the
09:41topics she discussed with Salam. And Mariam finds this sweet. She invites him to a dinner that night,
09:46which Salam immediately accepts. But first, Salam visits Tala in her hotel room to convince her to
09:52return to the set. There, Salam experiences just how much of a diva Tala is. She's serious about
09:57returning to Paris. So, Salam soothes her by proposing an alternative ending. When she hears it,
10:02Tala likes it. She wants Salam to write it immediately. She wants it tomorrow. Or, she'll fly back home.
10:09Salam pleads that he can't do it tonight because he has an important appointment. But Tala won't budge.
10:15Salam can't give up this job. Against his wishes, he calls Mariam to say he can't come to their dinner.
10:21True to his words, Salam produces a script that convinces Tala to return to set. The scene will go like
10:27this. It's the wedding day. And Rachel walks to the altar where Yehuda is waiting. But because she's so
10:32conflicted with her emotions, surrounded by men in uniforms, she'll feel suffocated. She'll faint on
10:38the ground, and the episode will end with the sound of her heartbeat. Tala likes this, because she'll
10:43still be beautiful wearing a pretty dress. Basim likes it too, but he insists on what the financers
10:48want. That Rachel should still blow up everything using a remote hidden in her bouquet. Salam talks to his
10:54uncle, convincing him that his idea will not appeal to the audience. Basim says he's not creating the
10:59story out of thin air. This is based on his experiences during the 1967 war. Although fictional,
11:05he wants to share the complicated story for the future generations to appreciate, but Salam still
11:10wants to do what he feels is right for the story, without disrespecting his uncle's wishes. Also,
11:15he believes that blowing things up is not always the solution. Salam has realized that working on this
11:21series has made him find what he really loves doing, script writing. And he wants to continue
11:26doing it by making sure the series will have a second season. While thinking about it, Salam gets
11:32a surprise visit from Mariam. She's watched the episode where Rachel talks about the fruit of love,
11:37the same one from Salam and Mariam's discussion. Mariam decides to give him a second chance.
11:42Salam pulls her into an empty storage room, where they share a sweet kiss of reconciliation.
11:47Definitely not a chase kiss. Thanks to this, Salam gets an inspiration on how to solve his dilemma.
11:54He meets with Asi again to convince him to help in creating the plot. Salam points out what has
11:59been weighing on his mind ever since. The wedding that Asi wants doesn't make sense,
12:04both in the storyline and way back in 1967. They have to remember what happened back then.
12:10Rachel is a spy from Palestine trying to steal the war plans from General Yehuda,
12:14of the IDF. If they get married, what will it resolve? The wedding is just a big illusion that
12:20changes nothing. Salam proposes a new plot to address this. At last, the final episode of
12:26Tel Aviv on Fire airs on national television. Rachel is seen conflicted with her emotions,
12:31despite standing beside Yehuda in front of the altar. The remote remains on standby in her bouquet.
12:37The rabbi comes in. But instead of officiating the wedding, the rabbi reveals himself to be
12:42another general arresting both Rachel and Yehuda. He knows that Rachel is a spy,
12:46and he grabs the bouquet from her. Then the general tells Yehuda he's been enveloped in an
12:51illusion of love created by Rachel. The last episode receives good reception from viewers.
12:56Asi's wife is proud to see her husband playing a small but vital role in her favorite series.
13:01Salam gets back with Mariam and watches the last episode with her. And the best part is,
13:05he starts writing the script for season two.
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