With the recent turmoil in Israel and the Gaza strip, we got to thinking about the myriad films made over the years that may help to bring this seemingly unending conflict into perspective. Is it about real estate, religion, sociopolitical issues, or a combination of all three? The Middle East is certainly not the simplest area of the world to understand - even for experts in such matters - but there is no shortage of good films about the region that can help to frame recent (and even not so recent) events in the proper context. Here are some of our favorites - both old and new - that explain both sides of the fight.
Lawrence of Arabia
David Lean's powerful 216-minute tale of Arab revolt and emancipation leaves many questions unanswered, but still remains the most gripping and epic film ever made about the region. Maurice Jarre's majestic score and Freddie Young's breathtaking cinematography mesh to create a near flawless canvas, which serves as a backdrop to a collection of brilliant performances from Omar Sharif, Peter O'Toole and Anthony Quinn. What "Lawrence" lacks in historical accuracy is surely made up in pure cinematic brilliance. The restored 228-minute Director's Cut is as close to perfection as a film can be.
Beaufort
Isolated, terrified, and shell-shocked; and that's just the audience. As Israel prepares to exit South Lebanon after eighteen years of occupation, one remaining unit must prepare an historic and strategically important castle for demolition, while under constant fire from Hezbollah missile teams lurking around every hilltop surrounding the fort. The outpost commander struggles to maintain order and keep his men alive as the final hours tick away. More than anything, the film is a symbol of the failure of the Lebanese conflict and a hint of the dangers to come in the following years along Israel's northern border.
The most important modern film about the Middle East packs an emotional punch as it details the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Not only is the animation groundbreaking in its intensity and style, but the entire film is beautifully put together. Director Ari Folman captures all of the principal characters of the region and weaves a tremendously powerful story. Bashir is one of the most visually impressive films ever made and is, without question, one of the best war films of the past thirty years.
The Battle of Algiers
Following France's defeat and withdrawal from Vietnam, the country faced another challenge to its colonial rule in Algeria. This joint Algerian-Italian production remains surprisingly unbiased and treats each side equally, exposing the brutality of French rule and the wanton disregard for human life on the part of the Algerians. Neither side gets a pass here as we watch humanity at its worst.
Paradise Now
While it is hard to feel sympathy for suicide bombers, this numbing film released in the midst of the Intifada by Director Hany Abu-Assad packs a powerful punch. Two close friends living under Israeli occupation in Nablus are recruited to carry out a double-suicide bombing in Tel-Aviv and fate will ultimately decide which one backs out and which murders innocent people. While not for the timid, it is one of the most honest and poignant films about the Arab-Israeli conflict to date.
Amos Gitai's riveting drama about the 1973 Yom Kippur War has to be one of the least violent war films ever made, but it still makes its point well enough. Told from the perspective of an Israeli helicopter rescue crew whose job it is to pick up the wounded following tank battles in the Golan Heights, Kippur is brutally honest in its message; all that is left at the end of war are the broken pieces to put back together.
Time of Favor
While perhaps a tad unfair with its broad brush portraying religious Israeli settlers as ticking time bombs, Time of Favor remains a powerful modern tale of religious fanaticism gone amok. Aki Avni (born only 6 weeks prior to the start of the 6-Day War) stars as "Menachem," the newly promoted commander of a religious IDF company. Menachem's love for a Rabbi's daughter sets him on a collision course with the Shin Bet (Israel's Domestic Security Service) and the Rabbi's star pupil who decides to set-off an explosion under the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The film was a deserving winner of Israel's Academy Award.
Operation Thunderbolt (a.k.a. Mivtsa Yonatan)
Israel's daring 1976 rescue mission at Entebbe has been documented in three films, but none is as impactful as the Israeli-made version co-produced by action film magnates Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus ("A Golan-Globus production"). Israeli superstars Yehoram Gaon, Gila Almagor, and Assi Dayan give Operation Thunderbolt a real feeling of authenticity that the Hollywood versions just cannot measure up to. The film is simultaneously uplifting for its triumph of good over evil and depressing as Israel's brightest star, Col. Yonatan Netanyahu is extinguished.
Lior Ashkenazi makes it two hits in a row (Late Marriage) with this deeply engaging portrayal of an Israeli agent whose life turns upside down following his wife's suicide while he is abroad on assignment. Rather than allow him to return to his usual work, Eyal is ordered to befriend the grandchildren of a Nazi war criminal so that he may locate him. Torn by guilt over his wife's death and a genuine affection for the old man's grandchildren, Eval is forced to rethink life's choices. The film is an extremely well-written and genuine drama.
Exodus
Otto Preminger's adaptation of Leon Uris' novel based on actual events leading up to Israel's independence in 1948 sizzles thanks to Paul Newman, Eva Marie Saint, and Lee J. Cobb. Newman stars as the fictional "Ari Ben Canaan", a son of Palestine whose clandestine activities in the Haganah force him to lead a revolt of Holocaust survivors aboard the "Exodus" whose immigration into Palestine is prohibited by the British army. You will never see a more stirring tale of the birth of the modern Middle East.
Kadosh
Amos Gitai's controversial portrayal of ultra-Orthodox life in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim revolves around two sisters trapped in relationships that are secondary to the study of Talmud and fervent religious observance. While not completely off the mark in its portrayal of certain prevailing attitudes in the orthodox community, Kadosh leans so heavily against its apparent target that it makes one question Gitai's real agenda here.
Imagine having a stranger enter your home under the pretense of being a famous filmmaker and all the deception that would entail. Toss in Tehran as the setting and the real victims playing themselves and you end up with Abbas Kiarostami's rather brilliant Close-Up. The deception unravels and the imposter finds himself on trial leaving one with a genuine feeling of pity for all involved. This film is a real human drama without the typical Hollywood schmaltz.
Kandahar
Filmed prior to 9/11, Mohsen Makhmalbaf's tale of an Afghani-born woman who returns to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan in order to rescue her suicidal sister drags along, but nonetheless has many moments of wonderful clarity that expose the Taliban regime for what it was: despotic and stuck in the past. Watching Afghani amputees scramble as a shipment of prosthetic legs are parachuted into a remote village remains the film's most powerful image, symbolic of the Taliban's legacy.
One Day in September
Narrated by Michael Douglas, this Academy Award-winning documentary pulls no punches in its exploration of the 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre. It effectively uses ABC's numbing coverage with veteran sportscaster, Jim McKay, and interviews with key German, Israeli, and Palestinian participants to tell the story as it happened. The final images from the charred helicopters are powerful - even haunting - and impossible to forget.
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