There something about reducing the issues surrounding the Israeli occupation of the West Bank to a dispute between neighbours about a grove of trees along where their properties meet that is just really simplistic in both good and bad ways. A surprisingly complex dramedy that offers no easy answers, Lemon Tree is about one woman’s determination to fight the power even though the House has written the rules to their favour. It’s occasionally insightful, but sometimes taxing, although buoyed by some strong performances and some interesting characters. It doesn’t strain too much, but then again, it’s pretty comfortable with not pushing the envelope either.

The title references a grove of trees bearing the sour fruit that grow in the back of the property owned by Salma (Hiam Abbass of The Visitor) who makes a meagre living off of canning lemons. Her property borders the fence line where the controversial wall separating Israel and the West Bank will be built, and her new neighbour on the Israeli side is none other than the Israel Defense Minister and his wife (Doron Tavory and Rona Lipaz-Michael). Israeli secret service, concerned with the minister’s security, order the lemon grove cut down despite all their other security precautions. Salma refuses to abide the court order and with the help of a young Palestinian attorney (Ali Suliman), she goes to Israeli court to fight for her right to grow lemons.

A good courtroom movie has its advantages, and so does Lemon Tree even though it’s not strictly a courtroom movie. Working in the film’s favour is the uniqueness of the case, the ambiguity of the central quandary and fact that this is a legal system foreign to us with entirely different thoughts, concerns and precedents. But watching this movie for the legal briefs is like watching Die Hard for the romantic scenes between John and Holly at the end. What I liked about the film is its leisurely pace and its questioning, the world is grey perspective. Also Abbass holds down the film remarkably well, making you feel Salma’s plight, her inner turmoil in fighting a battle she both can’t win and must win, and her attraction to the young lawyer who’s nearly the same age as her son.

But the complexities of Salma’s character get overshadowed by how loosely some of the other characters are written. Despite a heroic effort on the part of Tavory to inject some sweet humanity into the Minister Navon but he often comes off as a Snidely Whiplash caricature of cartoon villainy; like someone the Three Stooges or the Marx Brothers might have made mince meat out of. And I could have done with a little less of the ubiquitous, old school Muslims who stop by Salma’s for some tasty lemonade and to warn her that she best be not making eyes with lawyer lest she disgrace and dishonour her late husband. The movie does have a bit of fun with it though; frequently the director cuts to a shot of the grumpy-faced husband looking disapprovingly at everyone from the kitchen wall.

What I appreciate is that the filmmakers are clearly trying to show the true colour of things, saying that there’s no such thing as compromise or even really trust in a situation like this. It’s a truism to be sure, and solutions to the larger problems, like the relatively small ones focused on in the movie, don’t come easy. Like the Minister’s wife – played with endearing frustration by Lipaz-Michael - we feel spurned to act against injustice, but feel paralyzed when it comes to deciding how to affect justice. Despite some hiccups, the story is compelling and Abbass plays extremely sympathetic as Salma. Lemon Tree is actually very winning in its belief and advocacy that sometimes there’s value in fighting the hopeless battle, because you never know what you might start.