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?
P.S. Hank Azaria played a similiar character to Newman's in the 2001 t.v. movie "Uprising" about the Warsaw Ghetto uprising.
Have you seen it?
Spielberg prefers his Jews as victims, not as fighters.
The theme song was my eighth-grade choir's contest piece, and I still can sing it.
If you REALLY want to look at how favorably the Jews used to be treated, go watch "The Ten Commandments" and "Ben-Hur" again. When you watch those movies, you would think that the American Revolution was run by Israelites. Very pro-Jewish movies, unlike today.
I likes the old Hollywood much better.
I saw it when it came out. It's been quite a while, but I certainly enjoyed it, and as you say, it painted the Israelis as real heroes of--shall we say--biblical proportions. Their backs were pushed to the wall, they were close to extermination, but they prevailed.
I haven’t seen or read it in years, but I’ve often recommended the film/book for that reason. We see the Palestinians, they’re spoken of throughout the film. And the Palestinians are Jews.
As I recall there are also several scenes depicting the friendly relationship between some of the local Arab population and the Jews, excuse me, the Palestinians. And a scene I remember where I presume the Sal Mineo character is warned of the Mufti’s followers.
No, they wouldn’t make the film today.
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I also think that Spielberg made a business decision to create a film that could earn some money in the Muslim world. This is why Islamic terrorist themes get excised from screenplays.
I've not seen Exodus in many years, but it was a good movie. I'll have to see it again.
I saw it years ago. I also read the book and it was great -- better than the movie.
1964 was the year it all fell apart.
Leon Urius wrote the book "Exedous". It goes into far more detail and is very well written. The kind of book you just can't put down. For example the character Sal Mineo plays is a "Sondercommando" in a concetration camp. He removes bodies from the ovens. It delves into the past of the principals to explain their beliefs they carry with them now.
I'd prefer that people read the book. A movie of such a book is the same as only reading the introduction and not the content.
There's another excellent movie about the Munich subject. A made for cable movie from back in the 80s.
SWORD OF GIDEON I recommend it.
After reading your post, I found the following review of Munich, which I don't plan on seeing.
http://www.fandango.com/ReviewPage.aspx?mid=92524&review_source=LosAngelesTimes
I remember that theme song too.
I wouldn't call "Ben-Hur" a "pro-Jewish" movie.
I recently bought the piano music for my daughter to learn - beautiful piece....and a good movie too!
You'll enjoy this "professional" (sort of) review of Exodus:
http://www.unionsverlag.com/info/link.asp?link_id=4465&pers_id=1717&pic=../portrait/LaorYitzhak.jpg&tit=Yitzhak%20Laor
"....Leon Uris himself would not have written the book had he not been endowed with a considerable amount of the "new" type of Zionism. When "Exodus" was first published, 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. "It's psychiatry. These writers are professional apologists. Every year you find one of their works on the best-seller lists. Their work is obnoxious and makes me sick to my stomach."
"Exodus," of course, is the antithesis to what he calls "obnoxious" literature: "I wrote `Exodus' because I was sick of apologizing - or feeling it was necessary to apologize. The Jewish community of this country has contributed far more greatly than its numbers - in art, in medicine and especially literature."
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