Eyes of a Thief (2014) is a Palestinian film written and directed by Najwa Najjar. Kal Naga is played by the Egyptian star Khaled Abol Naga. Kal, a water engineer, has spent ten years in an Israeli prison. He returns home to find that his wife is dead, and his daughter is missing.
With bitter determination, Kal tracks his daughter to her most likely location, and believes he has found her under the care of a woman named Lila (Souad Massi). His daughter is a tough, no-nonsense young woman. She is portrayed brilliantly by Malak Ermileh. The acting of all three leads was excellent.
What we all want is for Kal to marry Lila and live happily ever after with his daughter and his new wife. This isn't Hollywood, this is Occupied Palestine, which isn't a place where a happy ending is guaranteed from the start. The plot has twists and turns that we don't expect. You'll have to see the movie to find out what they are.
We saw the film at the excellent Little Theatre in Rochester, NY. It was shown as part of the wonderful Witness Palestine Rochester Film Festival. After the movie, there was Q&A with Khaled Abol Naga via Skype. Naga is perfectly fluent in English, and his remarks were very helpful. Even though he's not Palestinian, he understands and sympathizes with the Palestinian people. Every woman I spoke to admired his looks--comments ranged from "drop-dead gorgeous" to "impossibly handsome." The good news is that he can also really act.
This film will work well on the small screen. Watch it on DVD or BluRay if you can't see it in a theater. The movie has a modest IMDb rating of 6.9. It's much better than that.
