Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with our old friend MiraJeff, tag-teaming with Sheldrake out in New York at the MOMA New Directors/New Films series. This series seems to be resulting in some true finds for those lucky New Yorkers and PRIVATE sounds like the best yet. If it's a quarter as powerful a film as MiraJeff says it is, then we're in for a real quality flick.

Fear not AICN’ers, it is I, MiraJeff, reporting on Private, a powerful little film I saw the other night at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center as part of the MOMA’s New Directors/New Films series.

Private, the feature debut of Italian director Saverio Costanzo, proves that the ongoing Israel/Palestine conflict is perhaps best captured on film by an outsider. Based on the true story of a family with whom Costanzo spent several weeks living with, Private depicts a Palestinian family whose home is invaded and seized as property of the Israeli Army. The family consists of Mohammed, the wise father who puts his faith in God; Samia, the mother who just wants her children to be safe. She is left home alone during the day with the soldiers while the children are at school and her husband at work. The children include Mariam, the rebellious eldest daughter who would rather stay with her family then leave the country to study medicine; Jamal, the quiet loner who wants to abandon his family in its time of need to live with a friend; Yousef, the mischievous teenager who harbors disturbing fantasies about being a terrorist; Karim, the adorable optimist who is too young and naïve to know the danger he is in; And finally, baby Nada, a little girl stripped of her innocence and traumatized by the war.

Mohammed and his family are innocent, however, and while conceivably the Israelis could kill them and steal their house, Costanzo’s script shows that the war, though senseless, is not the killing field its described by the media as. In fact, though there are brief moments of savagery, the director goes to great lengths to portraying the Israelis as sympathetic boys with guns. Now normally, if a platoon of machine-gun toting soldiers barged through my door in the middle of the night, I’d welcome them on my way out the door. But Mohammed insists his family stay, and their resistance is what makes Private so provocative. Though free to leave the house at any time, by doing so, they risk sacrificing the foundation the family is built on and jeopardize the principles Mohammed and his family live by. Mohammed, the family patriarch and thus, decision-maker, places his faith in God and believes in time, his stubbornness to relinquish his home will wear the soldiers thin. When the Army destroys a makeshift greenhouse, he tells his son, “We will build it again. And if they do it again. We will build it again. And if they do it again. We will rebuild it again…”

And so he agrees to follow the rules laid out by the Army. The family may use the first floor of the house if they have permission, but at sundown, they must scuttle into the living room where they will stay until morning. The windows and second floor are off limits. Those who trespass or break the rules will be severely punished.

The acting is first rate and the cast is commendable. I think the two teenage boys, Yousef and Jamal, could have been fleshed out more, but the young actress who played Mariam, gave a terrifically feisty performance as a woman who refuses to play by the rules. Mohammed Bakri’s courageous turn as the father struggling to keep his family together is inspiring. Whether quoting Shakespeare in a turtleneck sweater and sophisticated glasses, or being dehumanized by Israeli soldiers, Bakri’s performance is bold and brave. Director Costanzo also makes it a point to humanize the Israeli soldiers, a difficult task since little of their dialogue is translated into subtitles, though he pulls it off gracefully. Costanzo said in a Q+A after the film that he thought the soldiers were victims of the same cruel system as the family. They play instruments, tell jokes, have families, and are human beings, same as the seven people they keep imprisoned downstairs in the living room.

As a director, there are time’s when Costanzo’s novice shows, but for the most part he handles himself admirably behind the reins. It’s clear he respects his craft and some of the film’s striking compositions are noteworthy considering how little there seems to be to work with. The random bursts of rat-a-tat-tat machine gun fire and whirring helicopter blades punctuate the film’s soundtrack and help heighten the paranoia, which looms in every frame, since war is, if anything, unpredictable.

Perhaps most impressive, is the way Costanzo makes tense moments out of sparse situations. For example, during an air raid in the middle of the night, young Nada is separated from her family, who are locked in the living room. Mohammed shines a flashlight through the keyhole to let his baby daughter know he is with her. This scene is simple and sweet, and though we never see her, just the idea of Nada fixated on the beacon of light in the midst of unimaginable chaos is overwhelmingly powerful. Another suspenseful choice the director makes is to show the Israeli soldiers’ camaraderie and everyday fears through Mariam’s point of view, as she hides in an upstairs closet. Private is an intimate portrait of a family taken prisoner in their own home, forced to live paralyzed in fear, whose strength powers them to the dramatic conclusion. It’s a must-see for anyone interested in what’s going on in the Middle East, as well as anyone whose family has struggled through difficult times.