IT MUST BE HEAVEN: Maybe Not Heavenly, But An Absurd Delight

It Must Be Heaven is a comedic collection of vignettes brought a satirical edge – and maybe even slightly cynical undertone – by filmmaker Elia Suleiman. Blending the Palestinian filmmaker’s own worldview with absurd skits (evocative of Roy Andersson) and modern geopolitics, Suleiman’s film may not be as insightful as it thinks but it consistently amuses whilst maintaining an air of intelligent aloofness.

The director also stars as a fictionalised version of himself, beginning in his homeland of Palestine and then following him to Paris and New York in attempts to get his latest film made. Along the way, Suleiman silently – he speaks once in the film – observes and interacts with people of ridiculous hypocrisy and ludicrous obliviousness.

Absurdly humorous

Throughout the film, connective elements are interspersed with more standalone comical segments. Although plenty pack a message, most of these vignettes are highlighting the absurdity of little microcultures that develop. The increasingly ridiculous efforts of people to secure seating around one of the bassins in Paris’s Tuileries Garden builds beautifully from a reasonable starting point. Suleiman is frequently placed in a symmetrical frame, with him or others moving through each in such a way as to not disrupt said equilibrium.

Even if Suleiman’s style has drawn Jacques Tati and Buster Keaton comparisons, the cartoon style farces most clearly feel akin to in Roy Andersson’s work (another modern Tati-phile). Apply a slightly cooler colour grading or a wider angle lens and a number would fit quite neatly into You, The Living or Songs from the Second Floor.

A sense of belonging without ownership

A sense of being adrift is communicated through the lead character’s global bumbling. Even sitting on his home balcony, there is never really a sense of ownership to go with the sense of belonging. Suleiman continuously observes a neighbour undertaking the theft of lemons, with the appropriation undertaken with varying degrees of competence and care. In New York, a taxi driver marvels at the idea of a real-life Palestinian in his cab. His awe makes it sound like someone from Suleiman’s homeland is a mythical creature, yet a film producer declares the Nazarene’s film “isn’t Palestinian enough”.

Further emphasising the sense of remove is the situations Suleiman’s character finds himself in Palestine and Paris. On both occasions, quite purposefully mirrored (narratively this time, rather than visually), he finds himself on the edges of unrest; calmly going about his day as there is some sort of protest or rally – perhaps even disorder – taking place. This outsider element once again gives a sense of not being fully involved with any of the locations he goes to. Combined the aforementioned visual symmetry and the deserted nature of many of the locations, it heightens the sense of drift and disconnect that permeates the film.

Slightly too c*cksure

The film, as amusing as it frequently is, doesn’t necessarily offer as much insight as it thinks beyond Suleiman’s reactions to foreigners moronically reacting to his citizenship status (or lack thereof). In particular, the New York segments seem content to poke fun at Americans’ lack of knowledge of Palestine as a concept, without offering something – comic or otherwise – that might prod at the causal origin rather than the ignorant terminus. Gael Garcia Bernal’s brief appearance, trying to push (in something of a half-assed manner) past the indifference of the American professionals, has the same slightly smug feeling.

Not quite heaven, but flying high

There is no doubt that Suleiman knows his audience, and as such it can be argued It Must Be Heaven perhaps plays to the gallery rather than pushing out of a comfort zone. Nevertheless, the film balances wit and amusement with a melancholic, maybe even unfulfilled, sense of belonging. The end result maybe isn’t heaven, but it certainly soars high above the janky chairs scattered around the Tuileries Garden.

It Must Be Heaven has screened at numerous festivals in the UK and USA, and has no set release date yet.