{"id":25995,"date":"2023-09-03T21:30:33","date_gmt":"2023-09-03T21:30:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harvestmoonnews.com\/?p=25995"},"modified":"2023-09-03T21:30:33","modified_gmt":"2023-09-03T21:30:33","slug":"movie-review-helen-mirren-shines-as-israeli-prime-minister-in-golda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harvestmoonnews.com\/world-news\/movie-review-helen-mirren-shines-as-israeli-prime-minister-in-golda\/","title":{"rendered":"Movie review: Helen Mirren shines as Israeli prime minister in &#8220;Golda&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s wonderful to see Helen Mirren taking on a meaty role into which she can sink her highly talented teeth.<\/p>\n<p>In recent years, the acclaimed English actor has been spending some of her on-screen time bringing a little bit of class to movies in the \u201cFast and Furious\u201d franchise. And last year she showed up in borderline-unwatchable DC Extended Universe affair \u201cShazam! Fury of the Gods.\u201d (As the DCEU is no more, let us simply never speak of that one again.)<\/p>\n<p>Now, though, Mirren, who earned an Academy Award for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in 2006\u2019s \u201cThe Queen,\u201d portrays another significant figure in the last several decades of world history.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGolda\u201d \u2014 a sturdy if not-quite-stellar drama already in theaters in select markets and going wider this week \u2014 sees Mirren as Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, the only woman to hold the position.<\/p>\n<p><span><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/unW5w6JCEb8?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>With the help of excellent work from costume designer Sin\u00e9ad Kidao (\u201cSmall Axe\u201d) and hair and makeup supervisor Karen Hartley Thomas (\u201cThe Courier\u201d), Mirren all but disappears into the role. Her physical but delicate performance is the strongest element of this film from director Guy Nattiv and writer Nicholas Martin (\u201cFlorence Foster Jenkins\u201d).<\/p>\n<p>Not a traditional biopic, \u201cGolda\u201d focuses on Meir during the roughly three weeks surrounding the Yom Kippur War in October 1973, when the combined forces of Egypt, Syria and Jordan attacked her country during its holiest day.<\/p>\n<p>However, we are introduced to the film\u2019s Golda in 1974, as she is being driven to give testimony before the Agranat Commission, which is looking into the failure of Israel Defense Forces in the time leading up to the war. In what will be a common sight in the narrative to come, Gold works on a cigarette, putting it out in a full ashtray as she exits the vehicle.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGolda\u201d then takes us back to those hours before the attack, as intelligence suggests such an attack may be coming but some of her advisers aren\u2019t so sure.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/TNH-L-FilmReview-Golda-WBOX-090123-03.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>As the story progresses, Golda will come to rely less on Minister of Defense Moshe Dayan (Rami Heuberger, \u201cSchindler\u2019s List\u201d) and more on General David \u201cDado\u201d Elazar (Lior Ashkenazi, \u201cBig Bad Wolves\u201d), chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces. She is with the latter on more than one occasion as she absorbs often heartbreaking radio transmissions from the battlefield. We don\u2019t really see any fighting in \u201cGolda,\u201d but the titular character, in the hands of Mirren, is effective enough in reminding us about the horrors of war.<\/p>\n<p>Behind the scenes, Golda relies on an assistant, Lou Kadar (Camille Cottin, \u201cCall My Agent!\u201d), as the leader fights the lymphoma that in 1978 will take her life. Kadar not only works to ensure she eats and helps her bathe, but she also forces Golda to leave her bed on a very important day when her pain is getting the best of her.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/TNH-L-FilmReview-Golda-WBOX-090123-02.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>With apologies to Kadar, Heuberger and Ashkenazi, though, Mirren\u2019s strongest scene partner in \u201cGolda\u201d is Liev Schreiber (\u201cRay Donovan,\u201d \u201cSpotlight\u201d), who portrays U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and who, like Mirren, virtually vanishes into the character. The small handful of exchanges between Golda and Henry, coming mostly over the phone but once face to face as Kissinger flies into Israel, are \u201cGolda\u201d as its most crackling. It\u2019s engrossing stuff as Golda works \u2014 at times more gently than at others \u2014 to get more support from her ally, who insists he is largely hamstrung by President Richard M. Nixon being consumed with the Watergate scandal.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/TNH-L-FilmReview-Golda-WBOX-090123-01.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>Nattiv, whose directorial credits include\u201cThe Flood\u201d (2002) and \u201cSkin\u201d (2018) and who was a 3-month-old in Tel Aviv on the night of the attack, brings a steady hand to \u201cGolda. His is a less-is-more approach, which generally works, but considering the film is billed as a \u201cticking-clock thriller,\u201d you wouldn\u2019t mind a few more moments of the highly charged variety.<\/p>\n<h2>Related Articles<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p>Movies | <\/p>\n<p><span><br \/>\nTelluride Film Festival celebrates 50 years with an A-list full of auteurs<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Movies | <\/p>\n<p><span><br \/>\nCinemaQ Fest straddles the sublimely ridiculous and the deadly serious<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>He seems to be more interested in a meditation on the fog of war, aided metaphorically by the regularly present visual of the cigarette smoke Golda generates. He is assisted in this endeavor by admirable work by director of photography Jasper Wolf (\u201cBodies Bodies Bodies\u201d) and production designer Arad Sawat (\u201cAbsentia\u201d), who help achieve the film\u2019s stark look.<\/p>\n<p>All of those cigarettes, as unhealthy as they are, bring a certain charm to Golda and \u201cGolda.\u201d She even puffs away on a medical examination table, having been ushered secretly into a hospital by Lou and a few others, the doctor telling her that her condition has not worsened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut the cigarettes and the back coffee \u2014 you\u2019re making my job much harder,\u201d the doctor gently scolds her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd you mine,\u201d she responds.<\/p>\n<p>When all that smoke clears, \u201cGolda\u201d stands as a worthwhile, if narrowly focused, portrait of the \u201cIron Lady of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>\u2018Golda\u2019<\/h3>\n<p>Where: Theaters.<\/p>\n<p>When: Sept. 1.<\/p>\n<p>Rated: PG-13 for thematic material and pervasive smoking.<\/p>\n<p>Runtime: 1 hour, 40 minutes.<\/p>\n<p>Stars (of four): 3.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2023\/08\/31\/golda-review-helen-mirren-shines-as-israeli-prime-minster\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s wonderful to see Helen Mirren taking on a meaty role into which she can<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - 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