The Dupes

Tawfiq Saleh's 1972 film is adapted from Ghassan Kanafani's short novel. Three Palestinian refugees make an arrangement with a smuggler to cross into Kuwait, spending part of the journey inside the empty water tank of a lorry. The film gives each man's past separately. They belong to different generations and set out for different reasons; the narrative joins them to show the continuity of the refugee condition. The scenes of waiting in the desert heat are at the centre. Saleh changes the ending of the novel and shows the men beating on the tank, a choice much argued over since. The production was made within the Syrian state film organisation. Who it's for: those who follow Arab cinema and adaptations of political literature. Who it's not for: viewers expecting a hopeful close; the film announces its ending from the start.