This Land Is Mine

Have you ever wondered when and why did the whole Middle Eastern conflict start exactly? It just seems to have been going on ever since the beginning of times. Today I came across this brilliant short movie, showing all the endless bloodshed from a more objective and humorus perspective. Simple, funny and - unfortunately - true.

Israeli movie time

I began the Krakow Days of Israel with a Hebrew movie night in a cosy shisha café (https://www.facebook.com/przyladekkrakow) in Kazimierz, the Krakow’s famous Jewish District. Lying Orient-style on a pile of comfy cushions with a warm pot of rooibos was a perfect way to switch to the Middle Eastern chillout vibe.  

The first film was Turn Left at the End of the World (סוף העולם שמאלה) – certainly worth recommending. No matter if you are searching for a vivid image of what aliyah is about or just two hours of laughter and emotion, I’m sure you’ll be satisfied. It tells a story of two Jewish families – one from Morocco and the other one from India – who choose to start a new life in the dream Eretz Israel. That is to say, in the middle of nowhere. The people who once considered themselves high-class, sophisticated and elegant now need to deal with a complete change of lifestyle: settling in the inhospitable desert, hard, low-paid job in a factory and… getting along with the neighbors. At first they treat each other with a certain dose of distance and superiority. But day after day, the wall of prejudices is crumbled  by common experiences. They are united by personal tragedies and successes, family problems and sport challenges, bonds of friendship and affection. The way it was shown in the movie took my heart completely: without exaggeration nor dramatic kitsch- just ordinary human life, with all its difficulties and wonders. Lovely, funny, moving.

The second movie, Café Tales, gave me somewhat mixed feelings. Café Braun, which splendor is long bygone, is under threat of being closed. A group of old friends  declares war on all the world’s injustices standing between them and their favorite local coffee shop. The plot itself seems to make quite a good movie material but to me it just wasn’t really convincing. All the characters were somewhat too obvious, crazy and lost: colorful but simply exaggerated. The same could be said about editing: sharp, chaotic transitions from one scene to another would just make the whole story unreal. However, there was one great thing about the Café Tales that caught my attention: the way it presented one peculiar feature of the Israeli personality. Although each of the characters was totally different, there was one thing that united them: each of them was firmly convinced about his righteousness. All these macho men and strong women who have gone through a lot shared one rule: fight for what you want. This motivating, but often troublesome motto seems to apply to quite a lot of Israelis. As my Hebrew girl friend  once shouted: “You gotta step out of this <what’s wrong, what’s right>! If you want somethin’, just get it!”

Walz with Bashir

Before this film was released, six years ago, an ‘animated documentary’ was considered an oxymoron. Whereas animation was associated mostly with little children or underground artists, documentaries were something dead-serious. How is it possible, people would ask skeptically, to combine such different genres?

With his film, Ari Folman proves it is not only possible but also ground-breaking. The director couldn’t think of a better way of expression. It forces the viewer to step out of his schematic ways of comparing and labeling. Waltz with Bashir simply can’t be watched as just-another-movie-for-a-Friday-night. Folman has an important story to tell.

The plot is relatively simple. A veteran of the Lebaneon War can’t recall anything of his traumatic experience. All he can remember is one hazy post-massacre vision. Driven by a strong desire to discover what really happened in the Palestinian refugee camp, he decides to regain his memory. He visits and interviews all his ex-brothers in arms, step by step reconstructing the truth. The way he does it takes war to the most personal, intimate level. Political events are just a background for psychological dramas and moral dilemmas. This attitude is far from judging: you don’t get to see two opposite sides of the conflict, clearly divided by the “good guys/bad guys” mark. All that Walz with Bashir is about is the human tragedy. But as you know, having watched zillions of war movies, people tend to become desensitized to sufferings. And this is why animation plays a key role here. The subtle, stencil-like drawings transform the ruthless reality into something more of a nightmare. The whole movie seems somewhat surreal, smoothly blending brutal images with dream-like scenes. The viewer - encouraged by the strikingly calm voices of the interviewed - steps into the head of a soldier, taking over his fears and desires. One can always ignore the dates, names and death toll but it is way harder to escape the feelings.

What is also worth noting is that Ari Folman's approach to the war is quite unusual for the Israelis. They really pride themselves on the efficiency and mightiness of IDF (Isreal Defence Forces) that have a great authority over there. Remember that serving the Israeli army is compulsory, three years for men and two for women. However, as far as I noticed, most of the young people consider it a fun and useful experience rather then a tough duty. As Israel's relations with all the neighboring states are constantly tense, IDF are treated by the society as real life-savers. Now you can imagine that Folman, making a movie about all the fear and pain related to the 'heroic act of protecting Israel's security', was quite a taboo-breaker in his homeland.