Synopsis:

This is a film adaptation of The Death of Klinghoffer, John Adams' and Alice Goodman's 1991 opera directed by Peter Sellars, which is based on the 1984 hijacking of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro by Palestinian terrorists. The tragedy culminated in the murder of one of the passengers, a retired, wheelchair-bound American Jew named Leon Klinghoffer. When it first premiered on stage in 1991, the opera generated tremendous controversy, and was criticised for exploiting human tragedy and, depending on one's viewpoint, for displaying anti-Semitic, pro-Palestinian or anti-American sentiments. Penny Woolcock, in her adaptation of the opera, has used the techniques afforded by film to infuse the opera narrative with realism and dimensionality, making a highbrow form accessible. The film addresses the complexity of the conflict head on, building on Adams' intention to give voice to the heart-breaking suffering of both the Israelis and Palestinians, by fleshing out further the motivations of everyone involved in the incident and using archive footage to set the event in the context of the Middle East war as a whole.