Israeli Movies

By Naomi Freedman
Shlihah to the Conservative Movement

There are so many Israeli movies. For a country that is only 62 years old, Israel has a lot to show. Despite the low governmental subsidies, Israel’s film industry is glowing and has a lot to be proud of. Many great films have been produced and Israeli films are winning awards in various film festivals around the world. It is not only about the talent of the actors and producers; I think it has more to do with the topics that Israeli films are dealing with: Israeli society.

Israeli society is a very interesting society. It is a diverse community that contains many social splits. It is fascinating how much has happened in the 62 years it has existed. It has immigrants from all over the world. Olim came from many countries and all of them are learning a new language, Hebrew, which was a dead language for so many years. The issues of a Jewish and a democratic state and clashing values can also come up in films. And, of course, the struggle for survival with the existence of Arab neighbors is also reflected in films.

We can address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by watching and learning through a few movies. One of them is The Bubble, an impossible gay love story between a Jew and a Palestinian in Israel. Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East; therefore an Arab gay man will have to ask himself which identity is stronger: his Arab identity or his sexual identity, since both of them can’t necessarily go together. The background is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and it is reflected in the personal identity conflict.

We can learn about ethnic minorities such as the Druze in films like The Syrian Bride, where a Druze from the Golan Heights is about to marry a Druze from Syria. The wedding is going to happen at the check point since after the bride goes to the groom’s home in Syria, she will not be allowed to visit her family in Israel.

Israel as a country of immigrants has produced many movies dealing with aliyah and immigration. Some great movies include Yana's Friends and Schwarz Dynasty, but the movie Turn Left at the End of the World also addresses the questions of center versus periphery, generational and cultural gaps of teenage children of olim, and the opportunities that exist in the development town in the Negev versus Tel-Aviv.

As a country that developed after the Holocaust, we can see the affect in its movies even in the second generation. Walk on Water, which features the Mossad trying to track down a Nazi, also raises personal and emotional questions about the myth of the Israeli Macho.

The army has a strong position in Israeli culture. Many movies have been made about the army, and it is interesting to see how movies have changed from admiring the army to questioning or even criticizing the army. Waltz with Bashir not only tells the story of the first Lebanon war, but moreso, the affect of the army on Israeli society. Yossi and Jagger is a gay love story in the IDF. And Beaufort raises questions about the price and necessity of the army in south Lebanon.

There are many movies that show aspects of the Jewish tradition, like Ushpizin, Kadosh and Passover Fever.

And some movies just deal with ordinary issues of family, adolescence, parents and children. Mother-daughter relationships are explored in Broken Wings. Many families deal with the same challenges, but this family is in Haifa, in Israel.

Seeing Israeli movies is not just sponsoring the Israeli film industry. You can definitely have a social science course about Israeli society based solely on watching Israeli movies. I hope that as you are reading this, you will add some of these great Israeli films to your queue on Netflix.

[Posted 7/11/10]