During the 1982 Lebanon War, an Israeli fighter pilot, Yoni, is shot down over Beirut and captured by the Palestine Liberation Organization. Fahed, a precocious young Palestinian refugee who is angered by the death of his father in an Israeli air attack, agrees to help Yoni escape and lead him out of the city if Yoni will get him over the border and back to his family's ancestral village, where Fahed intends to plant an olive tree that his father had been tending in Beirut. As they embark on a hazardous road trip across the war-ravaged country, Yoni and Fahed move from suspicion and mutual antagonism to a tentative camaraderie as they make their way closer to the place they both call home.
The screenwriter Nader Rizq, has since come out speaking about changes made to his screenplay in violation of his integrity as an artist and spokesman for his people's rights. He mentions being excluded from the decision process which resulted in the last minute changes to the screenplay, yet he insisted on, and received sole writing credit. He described a process where "Only Israeli concerns were addressed, Israeli opinions expressed, and Israeli versions of history permitted. Alternate perspectives were simply unacceptable. And no measure of carefully documented alarm made an iota of difference." Examples of changes to Rizq's script include:
Opening the film with a slide stating that the Israeli attack on Lebanon was a response to rocket attacks when a ceasefire had been in place for months.
Removing Israeli cluster, phosphorus and air raids.
Changing the killing of an Arab child by a phosphorus attack to being targeted by a Lebanese sniper instead.
Limiting Israeli air raids attacks as initially described in the script.
Decreasing the number of Israeli attacks while increasing Arabic violence.
Depicting forced child soldiering among Palestinian youth.
The original script planned to depict the Israeli pilot humanely reacting to the Arabic victims of Israeli bombing. This was never filmed and instead changed to him reacting to an Arabic woman killed senselessly by a group of Arabic militia.
The final scene called for Fahed, on reaching his ancestral village and lands, to conclude: "Baba... I'm home". This was changed to "Baba... I'm here".
Critical reception
Zaytoun received mixed reviews, holding a 48% rating on review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes from 33 reviews, with a weighted average score of 5.5/10; the consensus states: "It has a lot on its mind, including a timely storyline with real-world significance; unfortunately, Zaytouns reach exceeds its grasp, partly due to the presence of a miscast Stephen Dorff." On Metacritic the film has a rating of 39% based on 15 reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Variety published a good review, suggesting it was "an accessible, briskly paced and occasionally schematic adventure". So did The Huffington Post, whose review added it was "punctuated by some outstanding performances". However, The Financial Times suggested it was "simplistic" and there was "too much diplomacy".
