Books, Films and TV Shows about Israel

[ItalophileNJ]

Just noting here that part of the cast of “Shtisel” is coming to my NJ synagogue in June. There will be clips from the show and a discussion with Michael Aloni (Kive), Doval'e Glickman: (Shulem), Neta Riskin: (Giti) Weiss and Dikla Barkai the producer. Equally exciting is that our member Dara Horn, who is an award-winning novelist and teaches Comparative Literature will moderate; Dara is a hoot.

So... if you love Shtisel and will be anywhere near Caldwell NJ, come and see them!

 

[ItalophileNJ]

I went back to "When Heroes Fly" and am now enjoying it; if that's the correct verb. The characters of Aviv (Tomer Kapon) and Himmler (Michael Aloni) are so different that I have no trouble telling them apart.
If anyone knows some Hebrew... I've noticed some of the translation choices are strange. Commenting that the Himmler character is emotionally repressed, his friend says, "well, he's European", which sounded odd to me. What he really said was he's Ashkenazi, which means he's of Eastern European Jewish heritage; I'm assuming they were aiming for an audience that wouldn't know what an Ashkenazi Jew is. And a few other strange choices, but nothing that interferes with the plot.

I watched another "Israeli" movie.... "The Red Sea Diving Resort". It's really pretty bad, very clumsy exposition, trite dialogue, the Israeli characters speak English (whereas the Ethiopian Jews speak Amharic and the other Sudanese speak Arabic). The "Israelis" are more like the Israelis in the crappy movies that were made about the Entebbe raid. (Well, IMHO).

 

[Pauline]

I watched another "Israeli" movie.... "The Red Sea Diving Resort". It's really pretty bad, very clumsy exposition, trite dialogue, the Israeli characters speak English (whereas the Ethiopian Jews speak Amharic and the other Sudanese speak Arabic). The "Israelis" are more like the Israelis in the crappy movies that were made about the Entebbe raid. (Well, IMHO).

We watched it last night and I classify it as "good junk", but, yes, junk.

 

[ItalophileNJ]

We watched it last night and I classify it as "good junk", but, yes, junk.

@Pauline..... Well, I DID watch the whole thing. ;-)

 

[Jim Zurer]

False Flag (Season 2) is now streaming on Hulu....I haven't watched it yet. We enjoyed the first season.

False Flag

Five Israeli citizens find themselves plunged into a gripping international espionage affair overnight. These ordinary people, going about their daily business, wake up one morning to discover that they are implicated in a ruthless kidnapping operation following the disappearance of the Iranian...

www.hulu.com

 

[ItalophileNJ]

I saw “Tel Aviv on Fire” yesterday, a comedic satire about a contemporary Palestinian soap opera being made in Ramallah, set in 1967 Jerusalem. In Arabic and Hebrew with English subtitles. We all enjoyed it and thought it was very well done. It’s playing in, I guess, theatres that show independent movies.

Redirect Notice

 

[Jim Zurer]

I am about halfway through "A Tale of Love and Darkness" by Amos Oz and I am loving it.....the writing is so vivid and the details about his growing up and his family are wonderful. Some of it is so very funny. I also like the narrator very much.

I will look for the movie when I finish the book.

 

[Jim Zurer]

"Our Boys" is now streaming on HBO...a searing docudrama about the 2015 kidnapping of three Jewish youths by Hamas militants and the retaliatory murder of a young Palestinian. Hard to watch in parts but we are impressed through the first six (of 10) episodes. It stars Shlomi Elkabeth and Michael Aloni is one of the Shabak officers. Hagai Levi (BeTipul and The Affair) is one of the creators.

Our Boys | Official Website for the HBO Series | HBO.com

The official website for Our Boys on HBO, featuring interviews, schedule information, behind the scenes exclusives, and more.

www.hbo.com

 

[ItalophileNJ]

I just read that there's a third season of "Fauda", that just started in Israel. Not sure when it will be streaming in US or elsewhere. And I think another season of "Shtisel" is still in negotiation.

 

[Pauline]

I am about halfway through "A Tale of Love and Darkness" by Amos Oz and I am loving it.....the writing is so vivid and the details about his growing up and his family are wonderful. Some of it is so very funny. I also like the narrator very much.

I will look for the movie when I finish the book.

It took me several tries to get through that book but when I finally finished it, I loved it. The writing is beautiful and I am not sure why I kept putting it down. I just read his book Judas, which was an odd story but full of interesting thoughts about the Jesus story, and I found it a bit slow going too.

Is there a movie of A Tale of Love and Darkness?

 

[Pauline]

I just read that there's a third season of "Fauda", that just started in Israel. Not sure when it will be streaming in US or elsewhere. And I think another season of "Shtisel" is still in negotiation.

I read that there will be another season of Shtisel because the first two seasons did very well on Netflix. We watched season 2 for a second time on our last trip to Israel.

 

[Pauline]

We watched Sand Storm on Netflix. It is set in a Bedouin town in Israel and is the story of a young woman who wants to marry outside her tribe. On our November trip we drove by several Bedouin villages between Mitzpe Ramon and Beersheba. Our Israel friends told us how the Bedouin men take more than one wife. It is against the law but is done. This movie starts with the wedding of a second wife.

The movie is very understated and things are not spelled out. They don’t say why he is taking a second wife but then you realise that he has no sons and the new wife is young.

New York Times - Review: ‘Sand Storm’ Follows a Bedouin Mother and Daughter in Quiet Revolts

Review: ‘Sand Storm’ Follows a Bedouin Mother and Daughter in Quiet Revolts (Published 2016)

In her feature debut, the Israeli filmmaker Elite Zexer directs a story about women constricted by, and pushing back against, cultural traditions.

www.nytimes.com

 

[ItalophileNJ]

Re Shtisel Season 3: Last I read was that labor disputes were holding up a third season. So it’s settled? That would be great.

 

[Pauline]

Re Shtisel Season 3: Last I read was that labor disputes were holding up a third season. So it’s settled? That would be great.

Your info may be more recent than mine! More research needed!

 

[ItalophileNJ]

It took me several tries to get through that book but when I finally finished it, I loved it. The writing is beautiful and I am not sure why I kept putting it down. I just read his book Judas, which was an odd story but full of interesting thoughts about the Jesus story, and I found it a bit slow going too.

Is there a movie of A Tale of Love and Darkness?

I also enjoyed “Judas”. I thought it was a rare case of where a writer could do “history repeats itself” and make a brilliant story.

There is a movie related to “Tale of Love and Darkness” but it’s only a slice of the novel, the story of his mother. Not a terrible movie but dark and not very rich, in my opinion.

 

[Pauline]

An article in The Guardian today about Amos Oz by Israeli writer David Grossman.

Amos Oz expressed the painful turbulence of Israeli life

Amos Oz expressed the painful turbulence of Israeli life | David Grossman

In his books, he helped us face ourselves. A year after his death, we still mourn him, says the Israeli author David Grossman

www.theguardian.com

 

[ItalophileNJ]

So David Grossman and Amos Oz visited and talked. Conversations I would like to have been present for......

 

[Jim Zurer]

Just finished binging Season 2 of False Flag (Kfulim in Hebrew...literally Doubles or Duplicates). Extremely gripping through the early episodes, it "flagged" a bit down the stretch but by then we were totally hooked. Basically a spy procedural showcasing the rivalry between Shin Bet and Mossad, it goes off in surprising directions. Lots of familiar Israeli actors in the cast, it is being shown on Hulu in the US.

 

[Helen789]

We watched Ajami several days ago. A remarkably realistic and genuine film. I liked it.

 

[Pauline]

I haven’t seen Ajami but it looks interesting.

Ajami (2009) ⭐ 7.3 | Crime, Drama

2h 4m | Not Rated

www.imdb.com