The Green Prince

The Green Prince is the latest in a crop of fascinating, provocative films--both documentary and fiction--about the Israeli internal security agency, the Shin Bet, and/or a Palestinian informant who spies for them.  Films like The Gatekeepers (2012), Omar (2013), and Bethlehem (2013) provide an in-depth counterpoint to the oversimplified headlines and TV talking heads that often paint the Israeli/Palestinian conflict in black and white terms. These films attach human faces and personal stories to the struggle. The Green Prince recounts the true story of the unprecedented partnership between Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of a powerful Hamas leader, and Gonen Ben Yitzhak, the Shin Bet handler who convinced Yousef to work undercover for the Israelis. Their collaboration lasted ten years, during which time Yousef supplied information that prevented dozens of suicide attacks and assassinations, exposed numerous Hamas cells, and assisted in killing or capturing many militants. These two men tell their complex, often-astonishing tale in a simple, straightforward way. Director Nadav Schirman intercuts the individual interviews he conducted with each of his protagonists to form the film’s clear, linear narrative. We get the story from both sides, though Yousef’s and Yitzhak’s perspectives rarely contradict each other. The resulting film delves deep into one small aspect of the ongoing, international conflict and explores issues of identity, personal morality, honor, duty, friendship, and truth, rather than the complexities of history and politics in the war torn region. 

Schirman’s previous documentaries In the Dark Room (2013) and The Champagne Spy (2007) also explore intriguing, personal tales of espionage and terrorism. He knows how to find true stories that contain all the drama, excitement, plot twists, and insight of a great psychological thriller. Unfortunately, in The Green Prince he must resort to creating his own images to visually support the narrative.  These are not the type of shoddy reenactments that pollute amateurish, History Channel-caliber documentaries; but they are reenactments nonetheless. There just isn’t enough video or photographic material available to supplement and illuminate the stories told by the film’s two talking heads. For the most part, Schirman’s simple, slightly stylized images don’t distract the viewer to the point where our attention is taken away from the story and focused on the storytelling. Yet, while the subtle reenactments come off as credible, they seem an uninspired solution when compared to Dror Moreh’s brilliant use of CGI animation in The Gatekeepers where he similarly had little archival material to work with. As fascinating as the story recounted in The Green Prince is, it’s a verbal story, perhaps better suited to an extended episode of Public Radio International’s This American Life than to the big screen.