Michael Winterbottom’s Shoshana

It was a time of colonialism the “anti-colonialists” seem bizarrely nostalgic for. The indigenous Jewish people were organizing for the independence of Israel, but the British were clinging to their “Mandate of Palestine.” There were also Arab colonizers, hoping to replace the British colonizers, but they hardly factor in British filmmaker Michael Winterbottom’s Shoshana, which is now playing in New York.

Shoshana Borochov is an ardent socialist Zionist Russian émigré to Israel. She is also a member of the left-leaning underground independence group, the Haganah. Thomas James Wilkin is a Hebrew-speaking British colonial policeman tasked with disrupting the more aggressive Irgun. Their backgrounds are so different, their romance should not work, but it does, at least for a while.

Unfortunately, their relationship starts souring with the arrival of Wilkin’s new boss, Geoffrey Morton. In fact, that is true for British-Israeli relations in general. Morton intends to use the same tactics he successfully employed against Islamist insurrectionists against the Jewish independence groups. Unlike Wilkin, he makes no distinction between the moderate Haganah, the confrontational Irgun, and the “militant” (as they now say in the press, about other terrorist groups) Lehi, which split from Irgun, rejecting their de facto truce with the British for the sake of victory over Hitler.

Predictably, the more Morton cracks down, the more Israelis hate the British, especially Wilkin, because he is usually right next to his boss, wringing his hands, during torture sessions. However, Morton must resort to more forms of trickery, because recruiting Jewish informants proves much more difficult than it did when he targeted the Arab terrorist networks.

Somewhat counterintuitively, Winterbottom’s screenplay (co-written with Laurence Coriat and Paul Viragh) downplays Jewish-Arab tensions, focusing instead of British colonialist mismanagement and antisemitism. It also gives the Romeo & Juliet love affair equal footing with the political intrigue. Fittingly, Gershwin’s “The Man I Love” serves as a recuring soundtrack motif, often accompanying Borochov’s heart-achey voiceovers.

Douglas Booth and Irina Starshenbaum (the Russian-Jewish thesp, who was excellent in the Russian underground drama Leto) develop a lot of chemistry together. It is also fascinating to watch their characters evolve, especially Wilkin, who clearly understands he “is on the wrong side of history,” even though the film never uses that exact expression. Likewise, Borochov eventually accepts the level of commitment required to protect her dream of a free and independent Israel.

Paul Newman @ 100: Exodus

Today marks Paul Newman’s centennial (1/26/1925-9/26/2008), but aside from tonight’s TCM programming, the occasion seems strangely under-heralded. Maybe this film is a partial reason why. Throughout his lifetime, Newman passionately advocated for liberal causes, but if he tried to speak on an Ivy League campus today, he would probably be shouted down and possibly physically attacked, because he appeared in Otto Preminger classic historical drama chronicling the founding of the state of Israel. Ironically, Newman was probably attracted by the film’s old school liberal themes, condemning anti-Semitism and championing indigenous people (the Jews) rebelling against their colonizers (the British and Arabs). Plus, Newman was also half-Jewish. This epic (at 208 minutes, “epic” is the right word) has only grown more controversial, for reminding the world why the Jewish people needed a homeland and how the Arab world immediately waged war against them. Preminger’s Exodus is also a stirring, old fashioned Hollywood crowd-pleaser that deserves rediscovery—and today would be the perfect day for it.

Initially, Kitty Fremont is no Zionist. She rarely thought about the Jewish people and when she did, it was not particularly edifying. To be fair, she still grieves her war correspondent husband—or rather she has rather avoided moving on with life. The nurse just finished a tour of duty at an American military hospital in Greece, so she stops in Cypress as a tourist before returning home. There, she visits her late husband’s friend, Gen. Sutherland, who administers the Jewish refugee camp. Sensing she needs purpose, he recommends she volunteer in the short-staffed camp clinic. First she declines, but when she recognizes her prejudice reflected in Sutherland’s subordinate, Maj. Caldwell, she agrees out of shame.

In the camp, she meets blond haired, blue-eyed fifteen-year-old Dutch refugee Karen Hansen Clement, who defies her preconceived image of Jewishness. Fremont is determined to bring Clement to America. However, the teen still hopes to find her missing father, the only other member of her family not confirmed dead in the concentration camps, in what the British call the Mandate of Palestine.

As it happens, Haganah commander Ari Ben Canaan has a plan to ferry hundreds of Jewish refugees like her to their homeland—and hopefully send a message to the United Nations in the process. The British steadfastly oppose any further Jewish immigration, out of deference to the neighboring Arab nations. Consequently, Sutherland will approve no such transfers, despite his reputation. Frankly, officers like Caldwell consider the Colonel so sympathetic to the Jewish refugees, they assume he must be secretly part-Jewish.

Of course, all the Jews Ben Canaan successfully shuttles into Israel will face violent reprisals after the historic 1948 UN vote. Fremont will see it all for herself, when she joins Clement and Ben Canaan in the future Israel.

Exodus was filmed on location in Israel and Cypress, where the ancient backdrops give it a sense of historical authenticity and visual splendor. Encompassing the events of the Exodus Blockade (which was admittedly given a much happier ending), the Acre Prison escape, UN Resolution 181, and the subsequent Arab pogroms targeting Jews (while the Brits sat on their hands), Exodus is a true epic, sent against a sprawling canvas.

Newman is also terrific as Ben Canaan, even though many critics argued he was miscast, because he was too handsome to be Israeli (again, he was half-Jewish). Frankly, this is one of his toughest, steeliest performances of his Hollywood heartthrob years.  His closing eulogy serves as an acting master-class that both perfectly expresses his character’s grief and the aspirations of the Israeli people, to finally live in peace and security.

He also has potent chemistry with Eva Marie Saint, his co-star in the 1954 Our Town, which was a breakout vehicle for them both. Arguably, Fremont has the greatest character arc and shows the most growth amongst all the characters, which Saint quite bravely depicts.

Cohen on the Bridge: Rescue at Entebbe (short)

Ever since it was founded, Israel’s neighbors have tried to wipe it off the face of the earth, but the Israeli people have always successfully risen to their own defense. Yet, they have often paid a tragically high price for their freedom. The rescue at Entebbe that resulted in Yoni Netanyahu’s heroic sacrifice obviously has extra resonance in the days following Hamas’s genocidal terror attacks. Perhaps more importantly, it is also an example of Israeli resilience. This is indeed a fitting week to revisit the Entebbe mission, particularly given the economy and style of Andrew Wainrib’s short animated documentary, Cohen on the Bridge, which is now available on Vimeo VOD.

Amir Ofer was the first soldier to breach the terminal at Entebbe International Airport. However, his story started much earlier during the Holocaust, when a man wearing a National Socialist uniform held his grandmother at gunpoint on the Mostar Bridge. Eventually, he will explain the dramatic parallels between her story and the Entebbe raid.

There were other connections between Entebbe and the Holocaust, because many of the hostages were survivors. The Air France flight from Tel Aviv to Paris stopped in Athens, where the non-existent security allowed the PLO and Leftist German terrorists to board the plane with grenades and automatic weapons. Documentaries like Follow Me: The Yoni Netanyahu Story do a nice job explaining the hijacking and the rescue, but Wainrib’s twenty-one-minute short does a comparable job in a quarter of the time.

Golda, Co-Starring Liev Schreiber as Kissinger

In many ways, the Yom Kippur War was a lot like the Tet Offensive. It was a surprise attack over a holiday that caught Israel by surprise. The media spun Tet into a Communist victory, even though the South and their American allies successfully beat back the Viet Cong. It is impossible to spin the Yom Kippur War as a victory for Egypt and Syria for several reasons, starting with the obvious fact Israel still exists. However, it was looking really grim during the initial days. Guy Nattiv takes viewers into the celebrated Israeli Prime Minister’s war-room in Golda, which releases Friday in theaters.

Some Israelis blamed Golda Meir for not being better prepared for the 1973 war, but clearly Nattiv and screenwriter Nicholas Martin do not. There were early warning signs, but they were interpreted very differently by legendary Defense Minister Moshe Dayan and Mossad chief Zvi Zamir. Unfortunately, Zamir was more right than wrong. Being a natural politician, Meir basically split the difference between their recommendations. It also certainly did not help that Meir had promised Kissinger and Nixon to wait for her war-mongering neighbors to fire the first shot, before Israel would start to defend itself.

However, having stayed true to her word, Kissinger agrees to expedite more military aid and diplomatically pressure the Soviets to stay out of the fight. It is important to remember Israel and the U.S, did not enjoy as close a relationship then as we do now. In fact, Nattiv and Martin nicely illustrate the legacy of the Yom Kippur War, including the Camp David Accords and a much closer alliance between our two countries.

Frankly, it is kind of shocking Liev Schreiber agreed to play Kissinger, especially since the film portrays the former Secretary of State in at least a halfway sympathetic manner, if not better. Apparently, it is tough to turn down an opportunity to appear opposite Dame Helen Mirren. For viewers, it was worth Schreiber risking his career, because their terrific scenes together crackle with wit and intelligence.

Mirren is also pretty good is her scenes with everyone else, particularly Lior Ashkenazi as IDF Chief of Staff David Alazar, Rami Heuberger as Dayan, and Rotem Keinan as Zamir. Less successful are the private moments she shares with confidential secretary Lou Kaddar (played by Camille Cottin) exploring all her aches and physical failings. We can all empathize, but a little of this goes a long way—and there a lot of it. Nevertheless, what starts as a good feature-showcase for Mirren evolves into an effective ensemble film.

The Engineer: The Shin Bet’s Hunt for a Terrorist

After his death, the Palestinian Authority named a street after Hamas’s mastermind of suicide bombings, Yahya Ayyash. That is the kind of partner for peace they are. Arafat even took time out from his talks with Rabin to praise the mass murderer. This film tells the story of how they got him. In 1993, peace was supposed to be breaking out in Israel, but explosions were rocking the streets of Tel Aviv instead, as viewers vividly see in Danny Abeckaser’s The Engineer, which releases tomorrow in theaters and on-demand.

The film’s opening attack is particularly vicious in its execution. First one Hamas terrorist blew up his explosive vest on a crowded bus. Then a second detonated his after first responders rushed in to aid the wounded, followed by a third nearby. These should not be merely considered acts of terrorism. They are crimes against humanity that Yahya Ayyash, a.k.a. “The Engineer” planned and directed (from a safe distance, naturally). In this case, they also kill the daughter of fictional Senator David Adler.

The American-born Etan is like the Jack Bauer of the Shin Bet. He was on suspension after getting a little too carried away during his last interrogation, but after the recent mass murders, it is all hands on-deck, definitely including his. They will have some competition from a group of mercenaries recruited by Adler, to avenge his daughter. Etan has strict instructions from the Israeli PM himself: no strongarm stuff. However, his old associate Avi (whom Adler helped immigrate to American after some unspecified trouble) has no such constraints. Nor do the fellow former Mossad agents-turned mercs Avi recruits for the job.

Like Dead Shot, The Engineer is more serious and ambitious than the average straight-to-VOD action movie, but it falls somewhat short in the execution. Kosta Kondilopoulos’s screenplay reflects the complexity of the geopolitical dynamics faced by Israel in the mid-1990s and some of the acts of terrorism depicted are truly horrifying. However, the scenes presumably intended to show off Etan’s interpersonal skills, both with his family and his colleagues, drag interminably.

Upheaval: The Journey of Menachem Begin

As Prime Minister, Menachem Begin provided the Israeli equivalent of Nixon going to China. Even before that he was crucial to the establishment of Israeli democracy. For years, he had the stature and credibility to hold successive Labor governments accountable and when he finally won a majority for the Likud Party, it proved Israel was truly a multi-party democracy. Begin’s life and legacy gets an overdue re-examination in Jonathan Gruber’s Upheaval: The Journey of Menachem Begin, which has a special online premiere tonight and releases virtually this Wednesday.

Born in Belarus, young Begin found himself sentenced to a Soviet gulag in Siberia for the crime of being a Zionist. Years later, that experience spurred him to rally to the cause of Soviet Refuseniks like Natan Sharansky. As the former leader of the Zionist Irgun militia, Begin spent decades in the political wilderness, while political rival David Ben-Gurion led the early governments. Yet, Begin always put the safety of the nation first (Gruber and several on-camera experts clearly imply this was not always the case with Ben-Gurion.)

Upheaval comes at an opportune time, because it directly challenges many of the stereotypes the media has developed regarding Begin and the Israeli right. It was actually Begin who championed the rights of Arab-Israelis and found his core constituencies in the Sephardic and non-European Jewish communities (while Labor represented the European elites). Perhaps his greatest accomplishment was the large-scale rescue of Ethiopian Jews.

There is indeed a great deal of attention devoted to the Camp David Accords, with ample credit given to both Sadat and Begin. Gruber and company also analyze the failures of the Lebanon War. However, instead of simply blaming Israel (and Begin and Sharon), they provide the full context for the tragedy that unfolded. Not only was Israel under fire from PLO terrorist rocket attacks, Begin also nurtured great hopes of forging a second grand rapprochement with Lebanon, while it was led by the Christian Bashir Gemayel. Had that lofty ambition come to pass, it would have brought greater peace and stability to not just Israel, but the entire region.

Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel

Baseball is America’s pastime—especially here in New York. Israel is one of America’s closest allies—and an island of liberal democracy in a sea of despotic intolerance. When the two came together in 2017, the result was a rousing underdog story. Cinderella proudly wore the Star of David on her jersey when Team Israel made their surprising run in the last World Baseball Classic, which Seth Kramer, Daniel A. Miller & Jeremy Newberger document in Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel, which opens this Friday in New York.

The World Baseball Classic is very much like a FIFA World Cup for baseball, including its greater popularity in Latin American countries than here in the United States. Big contract Major Leaguers are discouraged from playing, so most of the Americans who agree to play are veterans looking to make a comeback. However, that presented an opportunity for Team Israel. According to the International Baseball Federation’s “Heritage” rules, any player who could qualify for citizenship in a country is allowed to play for their national team. In the case of Israel, that meant any player with a Jewish mother or grandparents was eligible for Team Israel.

Prior to 2017, Team Israel was ranked 41^st in the World, but their diligent general manager and scouts managed to recruit established MLB players, including Josh Zeid, Jason Maquis, Ryan Lavarnway, Cody Decker, Ty Kelly, and Ike Davis. Indeed, there is a strong connection between Team Israel and the New York Mets, with Kelly and Davis being former Metropolitans and team owner Fred Wilpon serving as a producer of the documentary.

With little fanfare or expectations, Team Israel arrived in Seoul for the first round of WBC competition. Not to be spoilery, but they pretty much shocked the world. If not exactly an all-star Team, Team Israel could definitely be described as an all-hustle team. They also had a much more unified team spirit, thanks to the time they spent together in Israel. They also had a greater perspective on the game, having helped dedicate an Israeli baseball field to a young athlete who was the victim of anti-Israeli terrorism. Plus, everyone dug their mascot: “The Mensch on the Bench.”

Kramer, Miller, Newberger, and their even dozen cinematographers captured every step of Team Israel’s journey, from recruitment, through training camp, the initial qualifier in Brooklyn, up to second round play in Tokyo. Frankly, they do not miss anything of importance from the 2017 season. Along the way, the team notched several upset victories, over some countries well known for their baseball traditions. Seriously, if you did not follow the WBC, you will be impressed. They did not always win, but when they did, it was pretty sweet.

As a work of cinema, Heading Home is straight forward and completely unpretentious, but it tells a terrific sports story. Clearly, Kramer & Company had the benefit of carte-blanche access to the team, but they were really fortunate to have so many insightful players willing to talk on camera. Many team-members obviously gained a deeper appreciation of the State of Israel after their time there (which sadly did include a terrorist act while they were in-country), so hopefully some viewers will too. Highly recommended for baseball fans and viewers of sports programming like HBO’s Real Sports and ESPN’s 30 for 30, Heading Home opens this Friday (9/6) in New York, at the Quad—with the Mensch on the Bench attending select screenings.

In Our Hands: The Battle for Jerusalem

An army sweeps through the Old City of Jerusalem. Thousands of residents were displaced even though their ancestors had lived in the Quarter for generations. Places of worship were destroyed and graves were desecrated. The year is 1948. The Army is the Jordanian Arab Legion and the neighborhood is the Old Jewish Quarter. Perhaps you were expecting different players? Regardless, the expulsion of the Jews from Jerusalem certainly provides helpful context for understanding the early history of the State of Israel. Fittingly, that is where Erin Zimmerman starts her deeply insightful hybrid documentary, before chronicling the David-and-Goliath-like Six-Day War in In Our Hands: The Battle for Jerusalem (trailer here), which screens nationwide this Tuesday, via Fathom Events.

The Six-Day War was orchestrated by Nasser to literally wipe Israel off the face of the Earth. The tiny democracy was vastly outnumbered. Not only had the Egyptian demagogue convinced a willing Iraq and a reluctant Jordan to combine forces, just before the launch of hostilities, Israel would be abandoned by its greatest ally at the time: France. Yet, the resulting war did not go exactly as planned.

Zimmerman tells the story through the oral histories of the surviving veterans of the 55^th Reserve Paratroopers Brigade, while also using actors to dramatize the historic events they participated in. The focal point of the film is Major Arik Achmon, who served as the intelligence officer under the brigade’s legendary commander, Mordechai “Motta” Gur. Achmon painstakingly planned a desperately dangerous mission in the Sinai, but when the war dramatically turned in Israel’s favor, he had to change gears at a moment’s notice and devise a strategy for taking the Old City.

You might think you were sufficiently familiar with the battles of the Six-Day War, but Zimmerman and her interview subjects provide fascinating details and absolutely riveting personal accounts. As Achmon and his comrades fully explain the conditions and circumstances they were dealing with, the magnitude of their victory seems genuinely miraculous.

Context is indeed the key to In Our Hands. Zimmerman and company really give viewers a full historical, social, and psychological perspective on the War and the events leading up to and following after it. Tiresome partisans will want to dismiss the film outright, because it was produced by CBN films, but it is a really fine work of historical documentary filmmaking. There is no religious proselytizing whatsoever. In fact, the film takes pains to point out a great many secular Israeli soldiers died alongside their religious Jewish counterparts, sacrificing their lives for the dream of a free and secure democratic State of Israel.

Given the nature of the re-enactment sequences, it is hard for the various cast-members to stand out for their work playing historical figures. Still, it must be readily admitted Sharon Friedman and Rami Baruch swagger quite effectively as Gur and legendary Defense Minister Moshe Dayan. Historian and former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael B. Oren also lends the film a real voice of authority as one of the leading talking head experts.

Whether you are a faithful supporter of Israel, or a kneejerk critic, there is much to learn from In Our Hands. It also does justice to the human interest of one of the greatest underdog triumphs in military history. Very highly recommended, In Our Hands screens this coming Tuesday (5/23) at participating theaters throughout the country, including the AMC Empire and the Regal Union Square in New York.

Eyeless in Gaza: Exposing Systemic Media Bias Against Israel

It was undoubtedly unsettling when Hamas started launching rockets aimed at Israel next to the Associated Press’s Gaza headquarters, but it sure should have made it easy to report the news. Yet, the incident was never mentioned in any of their dispatches. They also spiked any reference to the Hamas gunmen who stormed their office in a blatant act of intimidation. Matt Friedman would know. He was present for both events. He is one of a handful of Western journalists who expose the media’s deliberately and knowingly biased reporting of the Gaza conflict, siding against Israel and with Hamas in Martin Himel’s Eyeless in Gaza (trailer here), which releases today on VOD.

The Western media was right about one thing: war crimes were committed in Gaza. They just blamed the wrong combatants. By any standard of international law, the use of human shields constitutes a war crime. This was Hamas’s primary strategy in Gaza, but only a handful of media outlets, notably from India and Italy, reported on the practice. Callously and cynically, Hamas intentionally tried to maximize civilian casualties in Gaza, as part of their concerted propaganda campaign. In fact, the IDF did its best to warn the local populace of their impending counter-attacks, but Hamas pressured them to stay and become cannon fodder.

Meanwhile, the terrorist organization continued to rain down Qassam rockets on Israeli towns like Sderot. Those crude projectiles are essentially flying pipe bombs—too unpredictable for legitimate military applications, but perfect for inflicting pain on civilian populations. Given their nature, a high percentage of Qassam rockets fell short into Gaza, but who do you think got the blame for that?

In some footage, Western journalists literally ignore or mischaracterize Qassam rockets launched mere feet from their positions. They have also grossly under-reported the network of “terror tunnels” Hamas built under Gaza for the express purpose of attacking Israeli civilians (with Western “humanitarian” aid funds). Yet, perhaps most revealing is the radio silence on the plight of nearly 160,000 self-identifying Palestinians who have been dispossessed and in many cases killed by Assad and Daesh during the Syrian civil war. Contrast that with the chorus of protests for about 2,000 killed during the Gaza conflict. So much for the media’s sympathy for Syrian refugees.

Himel is a trenchant interviewer who has a knack for getting the cold hard facts out of his subjects—in many cases more so than they probably intended. He also assembles some pointedly telling footage from media reports that are almost Orwellian in their disconnection from reality. Although only running an economical fifty-one minutes, it is a damning indictment of media malpractice. It is truly impossible to watch Eyeless and not be convinced the Western media has betrayed all its principles, recklessly siding with an illiberal terrorist faction, for the sake of a preconceived victimization narrative. Highly recommended for anyone seeking clarity and insight on the Israeli-Hamas conflict, Eyeless in Gaza is now available via digital VOD platforms, including Vimeo.

The Prime Ministers: Soldiers and Peacemakers—Israel’s Legacy of Leadership Continues

Israel is the only state in the Middle East that grants freedom of religion, equal rights under law to women and gays and lesbians, and maintains strong environmental protection laws. Ironically, former soldiers have often led this progressive state as its Prime Minister. Yet, in the tradition of Nixon going to China, it was Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Rabin who negotiated some of the region’s most significant peace treaties. Former Ambassador Yehuda Avner served them both. His history of Israel’s highest political office continues to serve as the roadmap of Richard Trank’s The Prime Ministers: Soldiers and Peacemakers (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

Throughout the follow-up to The Prime Ministers: the Pioneers, Trank continues to draw on Avner’s insider knowledge, but he starts with a telling incident that predated the diplomat’s government service. In the so-called Altalena Affair, Rabin-led Haganah-IDF forces and Begin’s Irgun found themselves clashing in a very public and embarrassing manner. However, they would soon settle into political roles as leaders of the majority Labor government and the Likud minority, respectively.

As trusted aide to Golda Meir and Levi Eshkol, the British-born Avner’s services were retained by the newly elected Rabin, who was determined to forge stronger ties with the United States, but dealing with Kissinger was a complicated task. Yet, they made headway, including a grand state dinner at the Ford White House, which supplies one of the best anecdotes of the doc duology.

The surprise election of Menachem Begin, the first transfer of power in Israel’s history, coupled with the less surprising election of Jimmy Carter ushered in an even trickier era. It was not a good personality match, but Begin was more committed to the peace process than most political commentators realized. Despite the naïve bungling of the Carter Administration (Avner duly provides more than enough examples), Sadat was also ready to deal. While most viewers have seen the familiar Camp David video, the archival footage of Sadat’s earlier visit to Israel really puts the Accords in a whole new context.

Indeed, providing fuller, richer historical background and context is exactly the mission of Trank and Moriah Films. You can trust them to give the entire story of Israel’s triumphs, as well as its failures (such as the shelling of the Altalena). There is a great deal of important history in both Prime Ministers that will give students and concerned citizens a better understanding of Israeli and Middle Eastern history.

The late Avner was also a wonderfully eloquent and engaging guide through Israel’s momentous Twentieth Century history. He is so lively and forceful in the film, it is hard to believe he is no longer with us. At least he left quite a testament. Like the previous installment, Soldiers and Peacemakers is also unusually well crafted by documentary standards, featuring a classy symphonic score composed by Emmy winner Lee Holdridge and the dramatic narration of Michael Douglas and Christoph Waltz, giving voice to Rabin and Begin, respectively.

Watching Soldiers and Peacemakers will help viewers clearly understand where we are now with respects to Israel and the Middle East. Yet, thanks to Avner’s wit and insights, it is never dry or stodgy. Highly recommended for students and general audiences, The Prime Ministers: Soldiers and Peacemakers opens this Friday (10/9) in New York, at the AMC Village 7.

Above and Beyond: Israel’s Original Top Guns

Twice they answered the call to protect democracy, prevailing against the odds each time. In 1948, a number of former American WWII military pilots volunteered to fly for the fledgling state of Israel when it was under attack from nearly the entire Arab world. They were vastly outgunned and outnumbered, but their experience and sheer guts became game-changers. Director Roberta Grossman and producer Nancy Spielberg (sister of the other Spielberg filmmaker) chronicle the birth of the Israeli Air Force in Above and Beyond (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

When the Arab nations launched the War of 1948, it looked pretty grim for Israel. The Israeli military did not have a single plane to its name, but the Egyptians had an extensive fleet. Rectifying the situation would be a tricky business. Although Pres. Truman supported the creation of Israel, his foreign policy advisors were much less enthusiastic. In fact, they pushed through an arms embargo, ostensibly for the entire region, but disproportionately falling on the almost entirely unarmed Israel.  It was not like there were not plenty of surplus fighter planes leftover from WWII. Fortunately, engineer Al Schwimmer (formerly with TWA and Lockheed) devised a plan to smuggle planes from America to Israel.

Of course, he also had to recruit pilots, such as Lou Lenart, whose Lindberg-like flight over the Mediterranean serves as the film’s gripping prologue. They were not just risking their lives, they were also risking their American citizenship and perhaps even their liberty for violating the Neutrality Act, but they had their reasons. While not necessarily ardent Zionists, most predominantly but not exclusively Jewish volunteers were determined to avoid a repeat of the Holocaust’s genocidal horrors. However, they were still military aviators, with all the swagger you would expect.

Above documents a truly desperate time in Israeli history, yet it is also hugely engaging, thanks to the boisterous reminiscences of the surviving volunteers. They all have great stories to tell, but Grossman and Spielberg were particularly blessed by the documentary gods when they sat down with Gideon Lichtman, who couldn’t tell a boring story if he tried.

Through its first-person interviews and supplemental commentaries, Above assembles a full portrait of Squadron 101’s early days that is chocked full of fascinating episodes. Shrewdly, it refrains from playing the conspiracy card with respects to the untimely death of legendary ace Canadian volunteer Buzz Beurling, but its straight reporting of the facts still makes you wonder.

This is a flat-out terrific film that is not ashamed to celebrate heroism and derring-do attitude. Indeed, it is truly inspiring (and often wickedly funny) to hear the volunteers recount their exploits. Grossman and company have crafted a fitting platform for their oral history, supplying solid historical context and some surprisingly cinematic visuals. Rigorously researched and wildly entertaining, Above and Beyond is very highly recommended (especially for students) when it opens this Friday (1/30) in New York, at the Village East.

Next Year Jerusalem: Sight-Seeing in the State of Israel

Unlike most tourists traveling to Israel, security issues are the least of their worries. This group of eighty and ninety-some year-old Jewish retirees and their caretakers have more mundane health concerns to focus on as they prepare for their journey. It will be the trip of their lifetimes coming late in life for the subjects of David Gaynes’ Next Year Jerusalem (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

You know every last resident of the Jewish Home for the Elderly in Fairfield votes in each election, so it is no surprise to find the state’s senior senator glad-handing the residents. He should remember they clearly support the State of Israel—and therefore probably do not consider it a potential apartheid state, unlike our current Secretary of State. Gaynes scrupulously avoids such political controversies, preferring to focus on the religious and spiritual significance of their pilgrimage instead.

Religion and spirituality can indeed be dramatic, but they never get overly messy in NYJ. Easily, the most intense scene captures their visit to Yad Vesham, where a Survivor in the Connecticut group meets a fellow Belgian Hidden Child, who will serve as their tour guide for the day. There is also a pleasant sequence at the Western Wall, where some local Rabbis take a shine to ninety-seven year old Bill Wein.

It is just great that these ten seniors were able to make this trip and get so much out of it—and that’s about all we’ve got here. This would make a good feature story for the Fairfield paper or even a spirited little short doc, but as a feature it is maybe just two or three steps above home travelogue (although technically, it looks completely professional). Christopher Garofalo’s performance of his elegant Suite for Flute, Violin, Cello, and Piano and Sonata for Flute and Piano also adds a note of class, while struggling to create a mood of wistful contemplation that never quite takes hold.

Perhaps Gaynes was reluctant to delve too deeply, lest he ruin the moments. Frankly, one wonders if a filmmaker like Dmitriy Khavin (a documentarian with a foreign correspondent’s sensibility) would have gotten at something deeper. All very nice, but not much more, Next Year Jerusalem opens this Friday (5/16) in New York at the Quad Cinema.

The Prime Ministers—the Pioneers: Israel’s Legacy of Leadership

It is not sufficient to merely declare yourself a would-be state.  Any governing authority must establish the rule of law.  This was never a problem for the State of Israel (its neighbors are a different story).  It started at the top, with Prime Ministers who guided the fledgling nation through periods of profound crisis.  Ambassador Yehuda Avner witnessed this tumultuous history first hand as a trusted aide to Prime Ministers Levi Eshkol, Golda Meir, Yitzhak Rabin, Menachem Begin, and Shimon Peres.  Drawing upon Avner’s insider history, Richard Trank chronicles the Eshkol and Meir years in The Prime Ministers: The Pioneers (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

Given the wit and verve Avner shows during his interview segments, viewers might assume he was in grade school when he served as Eshkol’s speech writer and English correspondent.  However, he was there, in the field, when the State of Israel was first declared. Becoming a young but trusted member of Eshkol’s inner circle, Avner was on-hand for the planning sessions during the Six Days War.  Begin was also present, forcefully advocating Israel take advantage of the crisis to liberate the Old City of Jerusalem.  Although cautious, Eshkol recognized the historic opportunity presenting itself and acted decisively.

Where the Six Days War was an unqualified triumph for the Israeli military, the Yom Kippur War initially threatened the very existence of Israel.  Yet, Golda Meir rallied the country. In desperate need of military aid, she turned to the Watergate-embroiled Richard Nixon, who authorized a massive emergency airlift. The Western European parties in Socialist International were not so responsive, refusing to allow the American transports to refuel en-route to their embattled fellow member state.  Fortunately, Israel survived, allowing Meir to publicly shame her socialist colleagues.

As the first of a two part documentary series (co-produced by Trank and Rabbi Marvin Heir), Pioneers focuses on Eshkol and Meir, but Begin and Rabin appear in brief but significant supporting roles.  Considering Gravity’s continuing box-office dominance, a new Sandra Bullock movie ought to be major news, but her voice-over work as Meir is probably not likely to get the attention it deserves.  Regardless, she well captures the Prime Minister’s humanity and resoluteness. 

Likewise, it is great to at least hear Leonard Nimoy again, vividly bringing Eshkol’s words to life.  Christoph Waltz, who narrated the writings of Theodor Herzl in Trank’s valuable It is No Dream, also nicely gives voice to Begin.  Frankly, Pioneers is quite a big name production, with Michael Douglas rounding out the voice cast as Rabin and Emmy winning composer Lee Holdridge penning and conducting the score.

As a subsidiary of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Moriah Films is a film production company parents and teachers can trust to portray history accurately.  Like their previous productions, Pioneers is authoritative yet acutely aware of the human element underlying great geo-political events. One hopes Pioneers and Trank’s promised follow-up will eventually be widely available for high school and college viewing, because it provides the sort of comprehensive history of Israel students deserve, but are not getting from today’s media or academia. Yet, thanks to Trank’s brisk pacing and Avner’s engaging personality, Pioneers is never a dry or distancing viewing experience. Highly recommended for anyone fascinated by the great leaders of the Twentieth Century, The Prime Ministers: the Pioneers opens this Friday (10/18) in New York at the Quad Cinema.

Unmasked Judeophobia: Hatred on the March

The Middle East is like the Land of Oz.  We are told to ignore the man behind the curtain with the explosives strapped to his body.  He is the victim we are told.  So who is the oppressor?  Israel: the only country in the region where the rights of women and the GLBT community are protected.  How dare they.  Yet, this is not an isolated episode of temporary media insanity.  Gloria Z. Greenfield traces the historical anti-Semitic roots of the Hate-Israel Lobby in Unmasked Judeophobia: the Threat to Civilization (trailer here), which opens today in New York.

Everyone with an elementary school education should be aware of the blood-chilling horrors unleashed by anti-Semitism in the Twentieth Century.  Sadly, this does not include Iran’s president and Holocaust denier-in-chief, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.  As Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel explains, many thought the widespread shock and sorrow inspired by the Holocaust would act as a permanent check on violent institutionalized anti-Semitism.  Tragically, that has not been the case.

Now fast forward to the present day.  Throughout Europe, hate crimes against Jews are at an all time high. Ahmadinejad calls for Israel to be wiped off the map and the UN shrugs.  A “mainstream” Scandinavian newspaper publishes a scurrilous libel against the Israeli people and, unlike the “Innocence of Muslims” kerfuffle, the government and the EU can’t be bothered to respond.

Greenfield identifies the historical antecedents for such events, including the publication of the Czarist forgery, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion (still a bestseller across the Muslim world), and the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem’s enthusiast support for Hitler and his “Final Solution” during World War II.  In fact, Judeophobia makes a critical point.  The only Axis-aligned countries where the Allies did not actively disseminate information on the Holocaust and establish policies to curb extremism were in the Islamic countries of the Mideast and North Africa.

Co-produced by Greenfield, Michael Yohay’s thematically related The Case for Israel, was more focused, establishing point-by-point the democratic virtues of the State of Israel, particularly in comparison to their hostile neighbors.  (Case also featured a more distinctive soundtrack composed by Israeli jazz musician and former Paquito D’Rivera sideman Alon Yavnai, but perhaps I digress.) In contrast, Judeophobia’s thesis is somewhat less defined, essentially boiling down to “yikes, things have gotten bad.”  Nevertheless, Greenfield and her impressive cast of interview subjects argue the question very convincingly.

Indeed, Greenfield has an unusually knowledgeable and authoritative battery of experts to draw upon, including former UN Ambassador John Bolton, former Soviet Refusenik Natan Sharansky, former Canadian Liberal Party Minister for Justice Irwin Cotler, and Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz.  Through their testimony, Greenfield convincingly links the overheated rhetoric aimed at Israel, often hypocritically couched in the language of human rights and concern for the downtrodden “Palestinians,” with the incontrovertible anti-Semitism of previous eras.  Frankly, after watching Judeophobia, it is impossible to pretend there is any difference between “anti-Zionism” and anti-Semitism.

Judeophobia is bound to generate some anguished critical hand-wringing, because it hits pretty close to home, exposing some rather unsavory attitudes in the so-called “peace movement,” academia, and the old media.  The truth can be tough to face.  That is exactly why Judeophobia and The Case for Israel before it are so needed.  Informative, dispassionate, and scary as all get-out, Unmasked Judeophobia is highly recommended for New Yorkers who think they understand the state of the world but only rely on one or two sources for news.  It opens today (10/19) at the Quad.

Apocalypse Imminent: Jerusalem Countdown

Here’s a wild premise: the Arab countries of the Middle East have united to annihilate Israel. Shocking, right? Believe it or not, Russia supports their cabal. Moreover, it is all foretold in Biblical prophecy. Perhaps that last part lost you, but it is rather central to Harold Cronk’s Evangelical thriller Jerusalem Countdown (trailer here), inspired by the book of the same title by Pastor John Hagee, which opens across the country, except New York City, this Friday.

Arlyn Rockwell is a smuggler, not a mass murder. That is why he reaches out to FBI agent Shane Daughtry after completing his latest assignment. Though initially skeptical of the old good old boy, he is convinced when an assassin comes calling. It seems Rockwell’s fateful job involved several suitcase sized objects. Yet, that is just part of the conspiracy. Daughtry and his former partner (at the Bureau and in ill-concealed romantic tension) Eve Rearden also learn an imminent attack will be made on the Israeli delegation to the latest orchestrated attempt to strong-arm the country into giving up more land, euphemistically called peace talks.

Meanwhile, a failed writer grows increasingly suspicious of his new Iranian neighbors. Suspecting something nefarious, he starts nipping over to have a looksee, cleverly asking the menacing Javed if he could borrow a cup of weaponized plutonium.

Compared to the last explicitly Evangelical film reviewed here, Countdown represents an enormous step forward in professionalism. In many respects, it is a perfectly respectable B-movie (never a term of derision around these parts), with some nicely produced action sequences.

As the lead protagonist, David A.R. White (whose credits include a recurring role on Evening Shade) is a credible and engaging protagonist. Likewise, Anna Zielinski projects a smart, charismatic screen presence as Rearden. Countdown even features Lee “The Six Million Dollar Fall Guy” Majors as Rockwell, which is totally cool. Indeed, for the most part, the ensemble cast is at least professional grade, if not considerably better.

Unfortunately, the proselytizing sequences still play more than a little clunky. To its credit, there is a surprisingly effective scene in which the agnostic agents Daughtry and Rearden start professing doubt in their doubt. However, the scenes of the writer’s wife hard-selling him her faith get repetitive quickly. Frankly, they are naggy both for his character and the audience.

To an extent though, such interludes are too be expected. What is truly disappointing about Countdown is the way in which it casts certain American intelligence personnel as villains. We expect that of Hollywood, but when Evangelical films start demonizing the CIA, what hope is there for agency supporters?

Though none of Countdown takes place in Israel, we do hear the Israeli Prime Minister cogently explain how much land Israel has already given up for peace, only to receive war and terrorism in return. In that respect, the film is quite timely, particularly when the current administration’s position of the day seems to be a return to the pre-1948 borders.

In fact, there is some decent international intrigue afoot, up until the big finish, which will limit the film’s appeal outside the Evangelical community. Regardless, credit is still due to White and Zielinski for keeping viewers focused and vested throughout. A lighter touch would have better served the story, but for the Empire State faithful, Countdown opens tomorrow (8/26) at the Newburgh Showtime Cinemas and at churches and theaters across the country.

Tribeca ’09: Salt of this Sea

In a rare display of organizational competency, the Palestinian Authority has consistently submitted films for the Best Foreign Language Award, even snagging a nomination in 2005. Their 2008 submission is a somewhat surprising choice, since it frankly depicts the corrupt and arbitrary nature of life under the PA. Though a decidedly mixed bad, Annemarie Jacir’s Salt of this Sea (trailer here), indeed has some noteworthy moments. While its New York debut occurred during the recently concluded Tribeca Film Festival, it seems likely to secure further invitations from City festivals, given its origins and subject matter.

Soraya is an American citizen, but her family roots are in Jaffa. Deeply steeped in grievance politics, she travels to Ramallah, by way of Israel, hoping to connect with her heritage. Soraya also wants to recover the long frozen bank account her grandfather had originally opened during the era of British colonial rule. However, the corrupt bank managers refuse to recognize her claim, naturally invoking Israel as a scapegoat. Rather than pursue legal options (it is worth noting Israel has probably the most accessible court system on Earth), Soraya opts to rob the bank with her new boyfriend Emad and his aspiring filmmaker buddy, Marwan.

Somehow they pull off the job with unloaded guns and high-tail it to safer territory: Israel. With Soraya and friends on the lamb and living solely in the moment, SOTS veers into Breathless territory. Jacir nicely captures the unreal qualities of these moments of deceptive peace that clearly cannot last. Unfortunately, attempts to be politically provocative often fall flat. For instance, the security wall is often used as a backdrop, obviously intended as an ominous symbol. Yet, in actuality, it has the innocuous look of a non-descript industrial park (again it is worth noting reports terrorism-related deaths fell by fifty percent since the wall’s construction).

There is no doubt the camera loves radical spoken word performer Suheir Hammad as Soraya. At times, she is an exciting screen presence, but she has a tendency to over-act, eventually giving free reign to a petulant anger that seems misplaced even in the politicized context of the film. Saleh Bakri by contrast, is more credible and consistent as the likable but disillusioned Emad.

Frankly, SOTS is a better than anticipated film, featuring several strong supporting performances. Jacir impressively mixes gritty realism with some memorable visual imagery. However, SOTS is ultimately undermined by the same biases and resentments which plague its protagonist.

Hannah Senesh: Blessed is the Match

According to novelist and Israeli Defense Force veteran Alan Kaufman, IDF soldiers are sometimes referred to as “matches,” in an allusion to Hannah Senesh’s beloved poem. Though executed in the waning days of World War II for her part in an ill-fated attempt to rescue Hungarian Jewry, her poetry endures as a source of inspiration and national pride for the people of Israel. Taking its name from that Senesh quatrain, Roberta Grossman’s Academy Award shortlisted documentary Blessed is the Match: the Life and Death of Hannah Senesh (trailer here) opens today in New York.

Filmed with the support of Senesh’s surviving family, Blessed had access to thousands of photos and personal documents, many never publicly aired before, revealing her short but intense life. Born to a prosperous family, the teen-aged Senesh still chafed under Hungarian anti-Semitism, eventually expatriating to Palestine. As Hitler pressured his reluctant Hungarian allies to adopt his Final Solution, Senesh was living safely on a kibbutz. However, the young poet, barely into her twenties, willingly enlisted with the British for a risky mission back to her homeland, putting herself directly in harm’s way.

When Senesh and her two comrades took off for their Yugoslavian entry point, Hungary was still a sovereign country, where Senesh would have freedom of movement as a citizen. When they landed, Germany had occupied Hungarian and installed the SS-like Arrow Cross to do their bidding. As a Jew, Senesh suddenly had no rights in Hungary, yet she persisted in her mission. In his final recorded interview, one of her fellow paratroopers relates an incident shortly before her capture in which she gave him a scrap of paper, which he nearly lost to the sands of time. On that paper, of course, were the lines of her famous poem: “Blessed is the match consumed in kindling flame . . . “

For Grossman though, the heart of the film is the relationship between Senesh and her mother Catherine, whose memoirs are voiced by Joan Allen (who also narrated the excellent Rape of Europa, which documented the National Socialists’ systematic plundering of Europe’s artistic heritage.) For months they were imprisoned simultaneously but separately, allowed only furtive glances of each other. However, their emotional bond remained unbreakable.

In Blessed, Grossman uses just about every technique available to documentarians, including talking head interviews, extensive use of still photography, in-character voice-overs, and even dramatic re-creations. While there is an understandable impulse to canonize Senesh, Grossman does include recollections of those who knew the soldier poet, but did not exactly love her (but certainly respect her courage and sacrifice). We also hear from Senesh’s nephews, the always eloquent historian, Sir Martin Gilbert, and even Shimon Peres, who briefly knew Senesh during her kibbutz days.

Though short-listed, Blessed was disappointingly denied an Academy nomination for best documentary. It is in fact, far superior to most of the final nominees, except the outstanding Man on Wire. Senesh’s story is clearly compelling, and Grossman’s absorbing treatment is both informative and quite cinematic. It opens today in New York at the Sunshine Theater.

Dead Sea Scrolls in New York

Nearly everyone has heard of them, but what is actually recorded in the Dead Sea Scrolls is not widely understood. Given the kind of wild religious conspiracy theories floating through popular fiction in recent years, it is extremely welcome to have an exhibit that really explains the historic and theological significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Those with a healthy interest in either Jewish or early Christian theology are likely to be fascinated by the Jewish Museum’s upcoming exhibit, The Dead Sea Scrolls: Mysteries of the Ancient World, carefully curated to resist taking sides in related academic controversies.

In addition to material providing helpful historical context, six fragments of the priceless scrolls are on display. They come from The Book of Jeremiah of the Hebrew Bible, the Words of the Luminaries prayer book, the Aramaic Apocryphon of Daniel, The Book of Tobit (considered apocryphal in Judaism but canonical for Catholics and Orthodox Christians), and two writings evidently pertaining to an ancient sect, the apocalyptic War Rule and the governing regulations of Community Rule.

Discovered in the Qumran caves of the Judean desert, the Dead Sea Scrolls are arguably the most important archaeological discovery of the last century. They were first unearthed in 1947 when a Bedouin boy tossed a stone into a cave, shattering one of the scroll vessels, whose contents he sold to a dealer for relative pocket change. Over all, the Qumran scrolls date from 300 BC to 100 AD, but of those be displayed in New York, only the Tobit possibly dates to the early decades of the Common Era (evidently the Museum’s preferred semantics), with the other five originating sometime during the first three centuries BCE. Some consider the scrolls the former holdings of a specific group (the Essenes are most frequently suggested), whereas others consider it a non-sectarian Jewish library or a cache deliberately hidden from marauding Romans. The exhibit draws no conclusions.

Jewish Museum visitors will only have a ninety day viewing window, a limit strictly enforced by the Israeli Antiquities Agency (IAA) to protect the scrolls, three of which, Jeremiah, Luminaries, and Tobit, will be displayed for the first time here in New York. This exhibit and another currently underway in North Carolina are part of a commitment by the IAA to always have scrolls on view somewhere outside Israel at all times. It is clear from the remarks of the IAA representative at the press event and the exhibit’s video loop that the agency, working in concert with the international experts, including the Dominican order of Jerusalem, considers their work preserving the scrolls to be a sacred trust.

The area of Qumran Caves has since been turned over to the PA. Wisely, the IAA conducted an exhaustive final search of the area for additional scrolls before the land was transferred. Evidently some interesting artifacts were unearthed, but no scrolls. One shudders at the thought of such an important archaeological legacy entrusted to Israel’s neighbors (who of course would consider the scrolls heretical).

The centerpiece of the Jewish Museum’s exhibit is of course the scroll fragments—documents dating back 2,000 years. These time-battered scraps dramatically illustrate the fragility of human learning. Thankfully, the IAA is determined to preserve them another 2,000 years. New Yorkers will have a chance to see them for themselves when the Jewish Museum’s exhibition officially opens this Sunday.

Blues By the Beach: On Screen and Online

In the past, there has been the occasional bloodshed in blues jukes, sometimes even becoming the stuff of legend. These days, one would hardly expect even a little fist-fighting in a blues club, much less a homicide-suicide bombing. In Israel however, that is never outside the realm of possibility. Filmmaker Jack Baxter learned this all too well while making Blues By the Beach, a documentary which plays May 5th at the Two Boots Pioneer, and is also available online as part of the digital delivery revolution.

Baxter originally travelled to Israel with plans of filming a documentary about a terrorist facing trial. When he arrived at the courthouse, Baxter found his prospective subject was already well covered by another filmmaker, and frankly not that interesting. Baxter planned to pack up his gear and leave, but happened to wander into a Tel Aviv blues club on his supposed last night. He found Mike’s Place, a beachfront club featuring a mix of blues and related blues-rock.

The managing co-owner, Gal Ganzman, had created an oasis of American ambiance that drew a decidedly mixed patronage. Everyone in Mike’s spoke English, but never discussed religion or politics. When Baxter saw Israelis, Palestinians, Americans, and Europeans, all peacefully coexisting at Mike’s, he figured he had his story. Baxter hired bartender Joshua Faudem and Faudem’s Czech girlfriend, Pavla Fleischer, to be his crew and started interviewing the people of Mike’s, expecting a narrative to take shape. Unfortunately, it did.

On April 30, 2003 a suicide bomber walked into the club, changing the lives of everyone there and tragically altering the trajectory of the film. Three people lost their lives that night: Dominque Hass, a Mike’s waitress covering for someone else on her night off, and musicians Yanay Weiss and Ran Baron. Seriously injured in the blast was the bouncer, Avi Tabib, who spotted the bomber, preventing far greater carnage, and Baxter himself.

The director would become the subject, as Faudem assumed the helmer's duties. Each death is painful for the people of Mike’s, but the loss of Hass is particularly shocking to the audience. Bright and attractive, Hass was established as one of the lead voices of Beach before the cowardly attack. Losing her presence in the film makes Beach feel unbalanced, incomplete—which is the point. That is the messy reality of terrorism and the resulting sense of loss.

Beach is not a film of strikingly composed images. Rather it was about having the camera pointed in the right direction when something important happened, and capturing the drama unfolding. This is not an academic exercise, offering excuses for the killers (who happened to be British nationals). It is about a savage act of violence, and the efforts to deal with the resulting emotional and physical scars. It is as real as it gets.

Faudem did indeed finish the film, but the experience would prove trying. Baxter recovered to see the film into release as co-producer and will be taking questions at Two Boots after the screening. It turned out to be a painfully intimate film, showing the effects of terrorism in very concrete human terms. Mike’s Place looks like the sort of spot we would hang at if we were in Israel. The music we hear in the film by Barry Gilbert and Sobo is actually pretty good and the people seem friendly. That is why Beach is so disturbing. It introduces us to a place we, like Baxter, would feel so comfortable in, and then see it senselessly bombed out of sheer hate. Beach is a brutally honest film, well worth seeing.

Coming in October: O Jerusalem

“If God is not here, he is nowhere,” says a character in O Jerusalem, while looking over the city which holds the holiest sites of the world’s three major religions. O Jerusalem, a new film based on the novel by Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins dramatizing early events in the founding of the State of Israel, tries to avoid taking sides in the greater political debate, instead focusing on personal dramas set against the historical backdrop.

Of course, the filmmakers may make a good faith effort at being honest brokers, but there are indeed some differences in how each side is portrayed. The central relationship of the film is a the friendship between Bobby Goldman, an American Jew newly returned from WWII, and Saïd Chahine, a Palestinian Arab studying law in America. They become fast friends in New York, but find themselves called to Jerusalem to take sides in the impending conflict, as the British prepare to withdraw.

Goldman and Chahine are used even-handedly to humanize their respective sides in the conflict. Each sees tragedy first hand, yet both men retain some remnant of their former friendship. In representing their comrades, French Jewish director and co-screenwriter Elie Chouraqui seems to give the Arab Palestinians a slight advantage. While both sides kill in the heat of battle, it is only atrocities committed by Jewish extremists at Deir Yassin that are vividly pictured on screen (although the resulting horror felt by Goldman and the Haganah regulars is made clear).

Certainly, the Holocaust figures prominently in Jerusalem, but it is not graphically depicted, except in brief archival footage. Goldman’s girlfriend movingly tells of her experiences in a concentration camp. However, the filmmakers show no images of Arab terrorist attacks, and decline to explain the fact that the Arab forces arrayed against Israel had also allied themselves with Hitler and the National Socialists.

The personal drama of Jerusalem is often quite moving. It is probably one of the better films portraying the loss and grief of war. People were literally crying during the final scenes last night. The dramatic situations are effectively underscored by Stephen Endelman’s music. His orchestral themes have a logical Middle Eastern flavor, often complimented by strings and voices.

Coming in under two hours, Jerusalem is quite manageable for a historical docudrama. If anything, it seems to end a little early from a historical point of view, with events on screen essentially ending with the cease fire of June 11, 1948, leaving the rest of the history to be summarized by voice-over. It is however, a point of stark dramatic climax for the film’s characters.

Saïd Taghmaoui brings real intensity to the role of Chahine and J.J. Feild seems to grow into the role of Goldman as the film progresses. The best known actors of Jerusalem have smaller parts based on historical figures. Tovah Feldshuh seems to own the role of Golda Meir, having portrayed her during a successful Broadway run for the one-woman show Golda’s Balcony, and she is convincing returning to the role here. Tom Conti wrings every drop of dignity and regret he can from the small role of Sir Allan Cunningham, the British High Commissioner. Sir Ian Holm however, is less effective as David Ben-Gurion in a performance that comes across as a bit of a caricature.

Jerusalem is often quite moving, and it is consistently interesting to watch the filmmakers walk the tightrope between each side of the conflict. While Arab Palestinians might have a slight edge in the film’s historical treatment, the film is far from being anti-Israel, as it seems to personally identify closer with its Israeli characters. Israelis would probably settle for such media treatment every chance they can. Audiences can judge for themselves when O Jerusalem opens in New York on October 17th. (The French trailer is available here.)