Ido Port, left, and Alfred Molina in The Little Traitor

The Little Traitor, released in 2007 and currently making the film festival circuit, is an endearing film that takes place during a tense period in history: 1947 Palestine just before the founding of the State of Israel. Directed by Lynn Roth, and based on the Amos Oz novel, Panther in the Basement, this film follows a curious and poised 12-year-old boy who befriends an unlikely role model.

Proffy Liebowitz (Ido Port) is the son of parents who escaped Nazi-occupied Poland. No other family members survived, and his mother and father are clearly traumatized by this. The father is obsessed with a local underground resistance movement (against the British), and, as a result, Proffy does not receive the fatherly love and guidance he longs for.

While there is tension in the Liebowitz household, there is more tension on the streets of Palestine. Due to violence and unrest from some Jewish resistance movements, the League of Nations mandates that the British army be stationed in the area to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the citizens. The mandate causes nothing but resentment and frustration for the Liebowitz’s and every other family around them. Proffy and his two best friends have also gotten caught up in their own mini-resistance, and plot to be as disruptive as possible.

A kindly British sergeant named Dunlop (Alfred Molina) encounters Proffy after catching the boy violating evening curfew. Dunlop decides not to arrest Proffy. As a result, a new and usual friendship is born. Their bond grows throughout the film as the boy discovers he finally has a father figure and the sergeant becomes enlightened as well.

While the film is based on a growing friendship between two completely different people, there are several elements of Proffy’s character that distract the audience from grasping the film’s main purpose. What is intended to be a story highlighting a very important period in the history of Israel becomes more of a story focusing on the coming-of-age of a young boy. There are several scenes in the film that are completely irrelevant to the plot, and are used solely for character development that serves no purpose in deriving the subject matter at hand: the complex situation in Palestine that Oz intended to share in his novel.

Alfred Molina is convincing as the kind, soft-hearted British sergeant, which is a far cry from the vicious villain he plays in Spider-Man 2. Though Ido Port, a virtual unknown, delivers a mediocre performance as Proffy; the audience can easily sense that Port is not as comfortable on screen when speaking English, and much more relaxed when acting in his native Hebrew. The Little Traitor is worth seeing, not for its coming-of-age subplot, but for the compelling and moral story about a man and a boy from two different worlds who find inspiration and assurance from one another.

For another take on this film, click here. For screening dates and locations, click here.

Brian Brooks is a junior in high school from Miami, Fla. He’s a member of the jazz ensemble at his school and is also an accomplished musician, playing instruments like piano, guitar and trumpet. He enjoys listening to the John Butler Trio and Coldplay, and he’s inspired by the philanthropic work of U2’s Bono, the witty words of author Nick Hornby and the dynamic culture of Israel.