A T.R. Quote....

"There were all kinds of things I was afraid of at first, ranging from grizzly bears to 'mean' horses and gun-fighters; but by acting as if I was not afraid I gradually ceased to be afraid."
- Theodore Roosevelt, An Autobiography, 1913

A Review of Exodus (1960)

This is a film leading up to and including the war that started between Israel and her Arab neighbors in 1948. The film stars Paul Newman and Eva Marie Saint. It was filmed on location in both Cyprus and Israel, including the site of Herod's Temple in Jerusalem. The Exodus gives real insight into the plight of the Jewish people in the days after WWII as they fought for their identity, their homeland, and fought for their freedom against the British and the Arabs. Notable events covered are shipment of Jews to Palestine, the bombing of the King David Hotel by the Irgun, the UN vote to divide Palestine into Jewish and Arab states, respectively, in the ensuing war between the Jews and their Arab neighbors.

The film opens in Cyprus, then under British rule, where a shipload of Jews has been stopped by the British from returning to Palestine, and were put into placement camps that bore a remarkable resemblance to the Nazi camps they had left in Germany. The film quickly makes the audience aware of British prejudice for the Jewish people, which may surprise many people as the common belief is that only the Nazis were totally prejudice against these people during and shortly after World War II. A series of events follows that eventually lead to a stand-off between the British and the Israelis, which ends after the Jews are allowed to pass into Palestine.

Many ideas and issues are skilfully woven into this film. Probably the biggest is the thought or notion of freedom. Another is trust and working together, even if you don't agree. A reoccurring issue is the relationship between the Israelis and the Arabs; we see friendships between them, but also hate violence. The film also makes very clear the unjust and unfair rule of the British over the Jewish people. Instead of helping them, they hindered them from recovering from the atrocities afflicted on them during WWII, and did not deal fairly on the Palestine issue. The film also makes clear the frustration the Israelis felt for the UN, and subtly raises the question of why the UN and the nations it represented had the right to decide the future of Israel at all.

This film is full of many beautiful scenes of both Cyprus and Israel. Cyprus is a small part of the film, but we see some nice shots over the ocean, some older architecture, and a few nice scenes with natural landscape. Some of the scenes in Israel were breathtaking, even those taken in the desert. There are many shots taken around aging and ancient architecture. Israel is a beautiful country, and this film gives credit to that. The music score is nice, with many traditional Jewish and Yiddish tunes. The national anthem 'Hatikvah' is heard at least twice.

The plot gets complicated after the Jews reach Palestine. There is violence against the British before the UN vote, and after the vote the Arabs declare war on Israel. Arab friends of the characters must decide which side to take, and ultimately pay for that decision, and through this we see in detail the strong friendships that exist between the main Israeli characters and their Arab friends. At the same time we see the love interest between Newman and Saint develop from an almost hostile relationship to them coming together closer during their trials and eventually professing their love for each other. The character that Saint plays had to struggle with understanding the Jewish people, starting off with relative ignorance of them, to eventually joining them and falling in love with one of them. Ari, played by Newman, struggled to understand that people other than Jews could share the same concern for his people, and had to be shown this by Saint, and his Arab friends.

I would rate this film as one of the best on the Israel/Arab conflict. It is not overly violent and thus can be enjoyed by the whole family, and would be useful as a teaching tool on this war. It is a very thought-provoking film that is a testament to Jewish perseverance and courage.

History Channel, After Armageddon

I first watched this film later last year, and was struck by how thought-provoking it is. This film does not show the ideal position, or follow the story of a prepared family. Instead, it shows a normal family, with normal amounts of supplies available to them e.g. not much. I would encourage you to watch this. In a little while I will follow this movie up with some preparedness plans I am making for myself and some links to some great preparedness sites.