Into his life storms Phares, an Arab garbage collector who trashes Bauman's peaceful everyday existence when he insists that the yard was once the site of his father's orange grove. The fact that Israelis and Arabs live on a mutual piece of ground. He soon found himself more interested in unearthing other plot elements. I wanted them to see this as about human beings. I know people who are more extreme.
None is far-fetched.
Indeed, audiences worldwide have found the characters fetching. It is an optimistic story, that people can get along, that if you bring political problems down to the human level, you can find a basis for understanding. But they all felt attached to it, because they have same problems in another way in dealing with minorities, different cultures who have to live on the same ground. Prior to the film's production, he had discussions in Tinseltown with an American filmmaker. There was talk of Peter Falk and Walter Matthau in lead roles, with Sonia Braga as the nun.