A Story About Redemption

Love, Theft and Other Entanglements is a universal story of an anti-hero and his journey towards redemption.

The lead character (Mousa) is neither the Palestinian national ideal typically found in many Palestinian films nor the pure victim of the occupation who is otherwise a perfect manifestation of good. He is not the typical antithesis of that either. He is not a national traitor or an Israeli collaborator. In fact, Mousa wants nothing to do with politics even though politics inadvertently come his way. He is an imperfect human being with many dislikable traits. He is a car thief running away from his troubled past; a love affair tragically ruined by his actions. He steals to bribe a way out of the country and away from his wrecked past. But his actions only get him into deeper trouble.

Mousa is a simple man, he is not a hero and he does bad things but he is not a bad person. He is someone who grew up in a refugee camp with many dreams about freedom and hopes of having a better tomorrow. But like many of his generation, he ended up hanging in limbo between the dark realities of life in a refugee camp in a depressed and frustrated society and the perpetual wait for tomorrow to arrive before actually starting to live the life he wants for himself. 

While the setting of the film is Palestine, the goal is to tell a universal story about human beings and how they act under circumstances that are heavy to bear. Do we act morally under pressure or is morality a luxury when so much is at stake? Are we able to connect with others or not? Do we trust or mistrust? Do we act responsibly or selfishly? And ultimately, how do we redeem ourselves from our own mistakes and actions?

As Mousa survives his journey, he returns to his home but with a realization of the role of his own wrongdoings in the creation of his troubles. While he cannot quite undo the past, he tries to redeem himself by ending the cycle of trouble he unleashed and taking responsibility for his actions.