As
if “Palestinian” terrorism were not enough to worry about, Israel also must
contend with old fashioned violent leftist extremism. Fortunately, the anti-terror cops are
confident they can handle any threat in Nadav Lapid’s anti-procedural Policeman (trailer here), which screens
during the 2012 San Francisco International Film Festival.
Yaron
is your basic red-blooded Israeli man with a very pregnant wife. He is the leader of his squad not necessarily
by rank, but by force of personality. Regrettably,
a rather messy mission has created lingering legal problems for his unit. However, Yaron should be able to fix it, if
he can convince a colleague with a convenient but all too real brain tumor to
take the heat for them.
About
halfway through the film, Lapid switches gears, introducing viewers to the next
crisis the SWAT cops will face. The
charismatic Shira and the manipulative Natanel lead an extreme leftwing terror
cell planning to crash a billionaire’s wedding.
Their manifesto states: “it is time for the poor to get rich and the
rich to start dying,” which ultimately would not leave anyone left alive. At least total equality would be
achieved. The jig is nearly up when the
father of Shira’s newest dupe discovers their plan. Yet, rather than save his son by informing,
the old school radical invites himself along to serve as his protector. Before long, Yaron and his comrades reappear
with an obvious job to do.
Policeman is an unusually
detached film, highly charged politically, yet scrupulously avoiding the
central issue of Israeli life. In fact,
Natanel vetoes every reference to the so-called “Palestinian” issue in Shira’s proclamation,
lest it muddy the waters. What emerges
is a portrait of extremes. On one hand,
we see the hyper-masculinity of Yaron and his colleagues. Lapid repeatedly shows viewers the
back-slapping and chest-bumping rituals they go through every time they greet
each other. On the flip side, Shira and
her co-conspirators are an emotionless lot, who are all more than willing to
kill and die as part of the violent—all except Natanel that is. He seems to prefer someone else stand in the
line of fire.
Lapid’s
clinical tone is not that far removed from Olivier Assayas’s Carlos, but it is even less
judgmental. Whereas many people will be
horrified the actions of Shira and company during the final act, it is quite possible
some immature viewers might be stirred up by it all. Granted, that ambiguity is largely the point,
but it leaves the film in a precariously half-pregnant state.
Whether
it was her intention or not, Yaara Pelzig’s performance as Shira is absolutely
terrifying. Like a cobra, she expresses
the hypnotic power extremists hold over their followers. Frankly, the lack of a correspondingly compelling
character among the police, good or bad, somewhat unbalances the film.
