Film No. 83 (2023) GOLDA. (Palace; Australia British Film Festival). 14th Nov.

 

Film No. 83  (2023)  November 14th.  1:50 PM  LUNA Windsor,  Cine 1, Nedlands.

 

"You forget. In Israel we read from right to left!" (Golda responds to Kissinger's instructions with regard to his priorities as an American representative; not as a Jew).

NOMINEE: Discovery of the Year (Dascha Dauenhauer) World Soundtrack Award.

 

Here is a dry interpretation of the 18 day conflict between Egypt and Israel in 1973. The conflict, better known as the Yom Kippur War, is seen from an Israeli view point, more specifically through Prime Minister, Golda Meir's eyes. Helen Mirren is Golda. Put simply, historians and film lovers who love actors, and the methods by which a craft is delivered, will be the greatest beneficiaries of this dark film. It is not a Mirren biographical portrait of who Golda Meir was. Mirren gives us a chain-smoking Golda, and the pivotal role she played during the conflict.

It is an historical document and a film for all, but many will be disappointed.  Helen M reminded me more of Nicole Kidman's, Virginia Wolfe, in THE HOURS, than Meryl Streep, in THE IRON LADY.  Maybe it was the prosthetic nose and make-up. Mirren doesn't have a whole lot to do (lighting fags excluded). Director Guy Nettiv is an Israeli film maker who, one senses, feels the need to reveal his insight of the significance of this war as part of the ongoing Israeli / Arab conflict. He was never to know how the timing of GOLDA'S release would meld with the devastation currently occurring. His Golda, in the care of Mirren, makes an interesting parallel with Netanyahu, the "iron fisted" current P.M.

So does GOLDA do a good job from an entertainment POV? Not really, but from a film lovers' standpoint, revelling in another Mirren masterclass there will be a fascination. Is it a competent documentation of a forgotten time in history that has current ramifications? Absolutely it is. The high point of the film is the sliding doors moment when U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (Liev Schreiber, excellent) intervened on the Israeli side. Israel may have toppled without his influence.  8GUMS.