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Reviews
O Jerusalem (2006)
A fair attempt to adapt a complex book to cinema
O Jerusalem (the book) is a well-know non-fiction account of the events surrounding Israel's creation and the accompanying Arab-Jewish war. It tells the story from the viewpoint of numerous Jewish and Arab participants in the events.
A movie adaptation needs to cut things down to size, and this film creates two composite characters, one Arab and one Jewish, whose friendship pre-dates the political and military showdown of 1947-48. As events unfold around them, they are both forced to take sides. However, their paths still intersect and they cannot totally shake their bonds of friendship.
This simplification of a complex narrative cuts a lot of corners, and sometimes the sequence of events (e.g., UN partition plan, various battles) are unclear to viewers who do not know the history well. In addition, the dialogue can get corny at times.
However, for those interested in the history of modern Israel and the Arab-Israeli conflict, this movie provide some useful (yet incomplete) historical context in a decent dramatic package.
I Am. Shimon Peres (2014)
Frank talk from a maker of history
Since Shimon Peres just passed away recently, this film caught my eye when I was choosing a documentary on my streaming service.
It was remarkable to see him active at age 90 as the President of Israel and then to watch him talk frankly about his ups and downs during his 65 years of public life, which helped shape the state of Israel and its relstionships with its neighbours.
Interestingly, Mr. Peres was never very popular in Israel as an elected politician and never won an election to become Prime Minister despite briefly serving in that position a number of times. For most of his career, he was better liked abroad at home.
By the time he became President (ceremonial position) in his mid 80s, Mr. Peres had achieved kind of rock star status even in Israel because of his longevity and vision for peace and development in the Middle East.
The only downside for some viewers is that it goes into some historical details that they may not be familiar with.