Movie reviews

15TH JEWISH MOTIFS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

ECHO

Watchable. From all the secrecy I would have expected more than just a love affair. Still, the psychologic thriller is so tense it keeps you on the edge of the seat. With limited cast, it places you very close to the main character. I liked the kind-of repetition of the shower scene with changed circumstances. The plot is rewardingly complex.

Avner's job is no coincidence. The character has been designed to have a mathematical mind. Also the tunnels he works in are a metaphor of digging into the subconscious and of a passage between two disconnected places. That was easy in the script but hard to find a tunnel to shoot in. The director explains that in the first shower scene Avner almost asks his wife about his suspicions. But then he concludes that she'd say something and he wouldn't know if it's true so he needs a hard proof. The excellent cinematography was provided by "young hipster supertalented director of photography Daniel Miller" who's about 30 years old and has shot 3-4 films so far. This movie was shot in Haifa hence the hills and greenery since the makers looked for a combination of a city and greenery as the movie wife likes greenery and the husband likes a city. 


INSIDE THE MOSSAD

Recommended. While the documentary focuses on the psychology of a spy, highlighting their sociopathic level of reasoning and lack of remorse with the difference of patriotism and being community-oriented, for me the best parts of the story of the organization world-famous for its efficiency, is the mention of their failures. These range from minor ones like botched murders up to the greatest failure imaginable: when the Shahin Shah of Iran approached them to assassinate Khomeini, they refused deciding they had too little data on the person to perceive him as a threat. The ex-agents clearly enjoyed the power they exerted. They also explain the advantage of intelligence over warfare: it's cheaper, fewer lives are lots. At the same time they admit it creates no real (i.e. lasting) change. As for asset recruitment, no spy is ever 100% sure but "it takes one to know one". They once even recruited a Nazi. After the capture of Eichmann all Nazis lived in fear of Mossad. So they just offered him a life free of that fear. That worked since he exposed a number of other Nazis to Mossad. What's shocking to me, they don't protect the assets who work for them - even if they tell them they will do - whether pawns like a shepherd or the Shahin Shah himself. Mossad also conducted tests of a toxin causing an inexplicable death months later... on passers-by. 

It took 1.5 years to persuade Mossad to let the crew talk to their ex-employees. Obtaining that consent was a matter of being at the right spot at the right time. No more access to the organization has been granted to the media after that. The producers had to run it through the army censorship, after which they received a list of what to exclude. However, they managed to negotiate it down to 5 items since the other listed had already appeared in papers. The ex-spies enjoyed the interviews as a way to explain themselves. The director says that most of them are very normal people. They are very conscious of who they are and of the personality issues they have and of "how they fucked up their lives" meaning the sacrifice of doing immoral things for the sake of others. The Israelis are proud of Mossad, the organization has mythical qualities to them. The agents are paid well, though it's not a fortune, as civil servants. In the case of the woman talking about her background and work it was Mossad that required that her face be blurred. As for showing her school picture - where her eyes were blacked out but not those of the other girls, the picture was old so the risk was deemed small. The director also explains that the cruel side of Israel has been there since the establishment of their state. There's also a Netflix series with the interviews.


And outside the festival, American:
THE CURRENT WAR

Watchable. The plot electrifies but it doesn't shine. It harks back to the times of Edison, Tesla, Insull, Westinghouse (who I had never heard of before) and... J.P. Morgan who bankrolled the inventions. The film certainly filled the gap in my school knowledge with the smear campaigns and even dirtier deeds behind the creation of electricity. The final note on the screen highlights the irony of history. But the whole story's too sketchy, focused on the race and scandals rather than the toil. A well-made movie but schematic like a grid with no flash of genius.