New in cinemas: Helen Mirren shines as Golda Meir

New in cinemas
Helen Mirren shines as Golda Meir

It is a notebook of horror. Only seemingly harmless numbers are recorded there. But behind every number are victims, killed soldiers. In the film “Golda”, the Israeli Prime Minister played by Helen Mirren writes Golda Meir (1898-1978) writes the numbers in her little book. “I counted them all, every single one of them,” she says at one point. Guy Nattiv’s look at the famous politician focuses on such difficult moments in Meir’s life. This makes Meir, often referred to as “Israel’s Iron Lady” – as in the German subtitle of the film – seem approachable.

Lots of symbolism

While Alan Gibson depicts large parts of Meir’s life in 1982’s “A Woman Called Golda” with Ingrid Bergman, Nattiv concentrates largely on one of the hardest times for Meir during the Yom Kippur War in “Golda”. The film describes the situation during the war that raged for almost three weeks in 1973 between Israel on the one side and Egypt, Syria and other Arab states on the other. Nattiv largely avoids relevant battle scenes.

Oscar winner Nattiv (“Skin”) relies more on symbolism. In difficult war situations, he repeatedly sends Mirren’s Golda Meir into the lonely eternity of long hallways and corridors in courthouses, hospitals or military command centers. One path leads her through a morgue several times in the film. With each new sequence, more lifeless bodies of soldiers can be seen.

There is a lot of smoking in the film. There is hardly a scene in which Meir does not light a cigarette, pull on it or crush it in – usually hopelessly overfilled – ashtrays. With the smoke present everywhere, the film refers to the ambiguity of the situation. The smoke thickens again and again, much is shrouded in fog, seems confusing, can only be seen in outline, clear steps or positions seem impossible. What actions are the military opponents planning? Is success against the attackers possible? And how certain is the support of the allied but Arab oil-dependent USA and its tough-minded Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (Liev Schreiber)?

Unsettled and determined

Amidst all the ambiguities, Golda Meir is constantly unsettled but equally determined. Nattiv can rely entirely on Mirren (“The Queen”), who has already won an Oscar. She shows the facets of her character: in a world dominated by men – Meir was one of the world’s first female heads of government as Prime Minister of Israel from 1969 to 1974 – she shows toughness at the cabinet table, supports her Minister of Defense Moshe Dayan (Rami Heuberger) as he stumbles in the middle of a crisis, and bakes cakes for a crisis meeting. Her vulnerability is evident in the recurring doubts, the tears for the dead and the burden of her own serious illness. Meir suffered from cancer, to which she later succumbed.

The casting of the non-Jew Mirren in the lead role in an Israeli production with an Israeli director about an Israeli prime minister was controversial. Nattiv commented on this at the presentation of the film during the Berlinale. “As a Jewish, Israeli director, I have no problem with it,” he said. “For me, it felt like I was meeting a Jewish person.” For him, it was only important to embed the actress in an Israeli team in order to make an Israeli film. In addition, Israeli and Jewish actors act all over the world without restrictions.

Mirren spoke of Meir as an “incredibly strong person” who had dedicated her life entirely to Israel. “The film is not a biography, it is about the part that challenged her the most.” Mirren, who is barely recognizable in the film, pointed to the importance of costumes and make-up when it came to playing the role. Nattiv said of this aspect of filming: “Helen was not seen for 35 days, only Golda.”

Berlinale to the film Trailer Information about the film

dpa