Posted on 01/02/2006 1:43:27 PM PST by Cinnamon Girl
Believe it or not, I only saw "Exodus" for the first time last night. Wow. I can't believe Hollywood ever had a kind word for Israel, especially considering the current prevailing attitude, as portrayed in Spielberg's "Munich."
"Exodus" was made in 1960, only 12 years after the U.N. voted to allow a separate state of Israel. Somehow, liberal revisionist history had not yet taken over Hollywood and here came a film that made the struggle for an idependent state a righteous battle, not a "mistake" as Tony Kushner, screenwriter of "Munich" has said.
"Exodus" stars the extremely good looking and masculine Paul Newman, who is saddled with the idiotic name Ari Ben -Canaan. The Ari part is fine (it means "lion" in Hebrew), but "son of Canaan?" No Jew has such a name because the Canaanites were idol worshippers and had to be conquered so that the Hebrew people could fulfill the commandment of taking over the land of Israel. Anyway, Newman is intense, driven, and hot as a leader in the Haganah who has to finagle his way past the British army to get Jews into Palestine. Interestingly, Newman refers to himself and other Jews born in Palestine/Israel as "Palestinians." This is historically accurate, but would probably be confusing to many people today who have bought into the arab/muslim claim on this term.
Another main character played by Sal Mineo, joins the Irgun and blows up the King David Hotel, a British military installation. The film makes clear that the British were warned repeatedly that the hotel would be bombed and still did not evacuate. Today, many people bring up this bombing to equate the Jews with the terrorist groups like hamas.
Eva Marie Saint plays the somewhat annoying Presbyterian from America who spends most of the movie not understanding why the Jews would want to go to Israel or fight for it, and even tells Ari (Paul Newman) "can't you just forget about being a Jew for a few mintues?" Then she makes a pass. It's understandable why she would find him so attractive, but why he would like her is a mystery.
The better romance was between Sal Mineo's character Dov Landau and the cute young refugee Karen, played by Jill Hayworth. These two understood each other, having both suffered during the war and now dedicating themselves to being part of the new state.
The film points out the relationship between the grand mufti of Jerusalem and the nazis, and also makes clear that the Jews wanted the arab residents to stay in their homes in Israel, but that the muslim leadership said they could not.
I recommend the film because it is very engaging (even though it's almost four hours!) and it has a lot of factual information going for it-- it was filmed on location in Israel and Cyprus. I've been to the Acco prison and well, the British military would probably like to forget about their ugly history there. Mostly, however, it was good to see something so politically at odds with Hollywood/European current sensibilities. The question is: could a film like this be made today?
"it's almost like some virus got loose in the country"
Amen, and it lodged in their brains and they've been insane ever since.
I do not know what you have pasted here, but you need to realize that the United States of America in 1948 at the United Nations voted against the establishment of a state of Israel.
Truman repented right away because of the vast Jewish conspiracy had long ago corrupted his life long friend to convinced him to have the USA be Nbr. 1 at the recognition table. So the story goes.
Son, do read some history, please.
WOW. You do take convincing. LOL
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/partition.html
US voted in favor of the state of Israel in the UN in 1948. Everyone except you knows that. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1947_UN_Partition_Plan
I know Israelis who claim some orthodox Jews don't support Israel nor do they think those Orthodox do enough for the war effort.
It's far different than many here talk about.....at times
I remember seeing this film. I think there was a long-ago time when it showed up on TV occasionally. You are right -- it's a wonderful film. The dreary, discouraging, disheartening post-modern, deconstruction junk movies made today aren't worth a 10-cent movie fare.
Would you really include Saul Bellow in that group?
Absolutely. I loved that book since I first read it as a teenager years ago, and recommended it to my book-loving kid. She found it heavy going for the first third of the book and protested loudly about continuing, but I insisted.
(I have a 20 percent rule - she must read 20% of every book on her list before deciding whether it's worth continuing, then she has to tell me in documented form why it is not worth finishing!)
Now, she's almost at the end of the book and cannot put it down. Some things are just worth a bit of pain.
"There is a scene in CAGS where Sinatra plays one of those pilots going up with only seltzer bottles. Just before he is shot down by an Armed Egyptian plane in defiance he shoots the seltzer at the plane."
One of my favorite movie scenes. One of those 'last great acts of defiance'.
Then it was just getting worse. But '65 was a very bad year.
It was based on a suit brought against Uris by a man named in the book "Exodus" as a concentration camp "doctor".
"""""""Uris was interviewed and said: "There is a whole school of Jewish American writers who spend their time damning their fathers, hating their mothers, wringing their hands and wondering why they were born." In the background, of course, are Philip Roth, Bernard Malamud, Saul Bellow and others. "This isn't art or literature," wrote Uris."""""
Here's an excerpt from an online bio of Saul Bellow, which I didn't write either:
http://nobelprize.org/literature/laureates/1976/bellow-bio.html
"...Mr. Bellow's first non-fiction work, To Jerusalem and Back: A Personal Account, published on October 25,1976, is his personal and literary record of his sojourn in Israel during several months in 1975.
In 1965 Mr. Bellow was awarded the International Literary Prize for Herzog, becoming the first American to receive the prize. In January 1968 the Republic of France awarded him the Croix de Chevalier des Arts et Lettres, the highest literary distinction awarded by that nation to non-citizens, and in March 1968 he received the B'nai B'rith Jewish Heritage Award for "excellence in Jewish literature", and in November 1976 he was awarded the America's Democratic Legacy Award of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, the first time this award has been made to a literary personage..."
Why not take the time to find a source for your argument next time you want to post your claim:
The partition plan was approved by 33 to 13, with 10 abstentions.
The 33 countries that cast the “Yes” vote were: Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Byelorussia, Canada, Costa Rica, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, France, Guatemala, Haiti, Iceland, Liberia, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Sweden, Ukraine, Union of South Africa, USSR, USA, Uruguay, Venezuela.
The 13 countries that chose the Hall of Shame and voted “No” were: Afghanistan, Cuba, Egypt, Greece, India, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, Yemen.
The ten countries that abstained are: Argentina, Chile, China, Colombia, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Honduras, Mexico, United Kingdom, Yugoslavia.
The USA cast a "yes" vote. Are you contradicting that?
I have seen it.
That was pretty much the last time if not the last time, that hollyweird treated the Jewish/Israeli struggles with respect.
Then for years there wasn't much and then all of a sudden - out of nowhere in my opinion - the muzzies were being celebrated by the left.
I remember being quite confused when bubba was killing Christians to protect the TROP adherents in the balkans. At first I thought I must have misunderstood but of course I did not.
I loved that book. It was one of Michener's classics about the formation Israel from ancient to modern times.
I saw "Exodus" back in the early 70s when I was in high school. Back then, it was often shown around Passover/Easter or mid-May for Israel's independend day. I thought it was a great movie!
not only have i seen it, my dad- who was a teenager in israel at the time- was an extra in a crowd scene (so i always try to spot him when i watch it:) EXCELLENT film!
"Cast a Giant Shadow" - another great movie! I saw it years ago during spring break late one evening when I was in high school.
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