"Rana's Wedding"

Rana’s Wedding (2002), directed by Hany Abu-Assad tells the story of a young woman in Palestine, who is given a choice by her father: either pick a husband from the list of men, who have already asked for her hand, or leave the country for Egypt with her father. In the morning Rana wakes up and sneaks out of the house to search for Khalil, the man she loves and wishes to marry. Khalil is not on the list of men her father has given Rana, and because she not yet twenty-one she needs permission from her father to marry Khalil. Searching frantically, Rana has limited time to find Khalil and the Registrar, before her father takes her to Egypt later that afternoon.

Throughout the film Rana must deal with both figurative and literal roadblocks to reach her lover. In one scene Rana, alone, is walking down a narrow passage, between tall, thick walls. Upon reaching a crossroad, Rana is faced with fierce barking dog. (Scene pictured upper left). Not only does Rana need to overcome the military roadblocks and those formed by people, mourning deaths and fighting to for their lives, she needs to overcome the boundaries set by society and the city walls.

Foucault looked a representation with a lens focused on the circulation of power. In Rana’s Wedding, various forces of power affect how Rana sees life and how she goes about getting what she wants. Her father may exert power by forcing her to choose a husband or go to Egypt, but Rana exerts power by challenging his ultimatum and searching for Khalil on her own. Similar to the discussions we’ve had in class, time is also a force that has a lot of power. The camera angles and shots influence the spectators’ perceptions of urgency, as the characters race against the clock to find the missing pieces to the puzzle.

The confines of the city walls, the minutes on the clock, and in one scene, the entrapment of the car, all seemingly powerless forces exert the most force on Rana’s existence in the film. She is forced onto a narrow path, on this day in her life, and her only way of fighting back is to race the clock, overcome the roadblocks, and find her lover. Rana refuses what society and her father has offered, and she seeks the path to her own future.