It's Israel's 50 birthday as a State and a birthday for the film maker inside the film, Mr. Mograbi (More Grab I). He weaves an allegory of personal frustrations in his private and professional life that shines some insight on the bigger picture. Not holier than thou, but honestly introspective.
3 Reviews
Middle East background knowledge helpful
hofnarr22 March 2000
If you've ever seen an intricate carpet or tapestry being woven by hand, you know how mystifying it can be to see all the tangled threads on the back side which seem to have little to do with the pattern on the front. If you're the weaver, you know how things are going to turn out. You've got the pattern in your head - or at least drawn out somewhere.
It helps to have a pattern in mind before seeing this film. A speaker rails against the "Ishmaelites" and although you might put together a partial picture from context, you get a more complete feel if you know just who Ishmael (roughly translated "Thou G-d seest me") is and how he is related to Abraham, Sarah, Isaac and Hagar. So any knowledge of the middle east situation from 2000 BCE to the present can't hurt.
This film is a bit of a "documentary within a documentary" as Mr. Mograbi is hired by a producer to do a film on Israel's 50th anniversary celebration. After one check is cut and filming begins, high unemployment figures come out in the press. The producer feels he should take some money and build a factory to provide employment - but all he and Mograbi know is films, so he cuts a second check for Mograbi to do a film on injustices which might highlight the need for reforms.
Another complication occurs when another person wants Mr. Mograbi to film Palestinian villages over-run in 1948 - some visible as ruins and others almost completely covered by vegetation - really only apparent if you know what to look for.
Periodically Mr. Mograbi turns the camera on himself and talks about a plot of land he bought some years back as an investment. Due to some clerical quirk, the 500 square meters of land he paid for ends up on the deed as 600 square meters. He doesn't think much of it at the time, he says, and begins to believe that maybe he *did* pay for 600 square meters after all.
The error eventually turns up; the plot next door has lost 100 square meters. . . some sort of adjustment must be made.
This segment of the film, threaded in a few minutes at a time, 3 or 4 times, seems irrelevant to some - others might see it as a personal complication in making his film. It's difficult for me to see this bit as anything but a parable of the Arab-Israeli conflict . . . or the Ishmael - Isaac conflict, if you want to step a few millenia back.
Early on in the film, the producer asks Mograbi if he must film *everything* - Mograbi seems to be filming him the whole time they are in the office together. But while Mograbi gets a lot of filming done, the producer keeps pushing him different directions making it difficult to achieve any kind of balance.
The film ends on Mr. Mograbi's birthday. The producer calls him demanding all his money back. His neighbor calls threatening legal action about the property. Fireworks are exploding in the air - Mr. Mograbi's birthday is also the day of the Israeli celebration . . . and some Arab fireworks are going on simultaneously.
Although a documentary, this has tinges of a morality play. I'm sure Mr. Mograbi had the best of intentions - most of us do. But Epicticus warns of good intentions in the best of times - what can be done in a situation like the middle east? This may not be a "feel-good" documentary (some of the best aren't) but it will give you some questions to mull over.
It helps to have a pattern in mind before seeing this film. A speaker rails against the "Ishmaelites" and although you might put together a partial picture from context, you get a more complete feel if you know just who Ishmael (roughly translated "Thou G-d seest me") is and how he is related to Abraham, Sarah, Isaac and Hagar. So any knowledge of the middle east situation from 2000 BCE to the present can't hurt.
This film is a bit of a "documentary within a documentary" as Mr. Mograbi is hired by a producer to do a film on Israel's 50th anniversary celebration. After one check is cut and filming begins, high unemployment figures come out in the press. The producer feels he should take some money and build a factory to provide employment - but all he and Mograbi know is films, so he cuts a second check for Mograbi to do a film on injustices which might highlight the need for reforms.
Another complication occurs when another person wants Mr. Mograbi to film Palestinian villages over-run in 1948 - some visible as ruins and others almost completely covered by vegetation - really only apparent if you know what to look for.
Periodically Mr. Mograbi turns the camera on himself and talks about a plot of land he bought some years back as an investment. Due to some clerical quirk, the 500 square meters of land he paid for ends up on the deed as 600 square meters. He doesn't think much of it at the time, he says, and begins to believe that maybe he *did* pay for 600 square meters after all.
The error eventually turns up; the plot next door has lost 100 square meters. . . some sort of adjustment must be made.
This segment of the film, threaded in a few minutes at a time, 3 or 4 times, seems irrelevant to some - others might see it as a personal complication in making his film. It's difficult for me to see this bit as anything but a parable of the Arab-Israeli conflict . . . or the Ishmael - Isaac conflict, if you want to step a few millenia back.
Early on in the film, the producer asks Mograbi if he must film *everything* - Mograbi seems to be filming him the whole time they are in the office together. But while Mograbi gets a lot of filming done, the producer keeps pushing him different directions making it difficult to achieve any kind of balance.
The film ends on Mr. Mograbi's birthday. The producer calls him demanding all his money back. His neighbor calls threatening legal action about the property. Fireworks are exploding in the air - Mr. Mograbi's birthday is also the day of the Israeli celebration . . . and some Arab fireworks are going on simultaneously.
Although a documentary, this has tinges of a morality play. I'm sure Mr. Mograbi had the best of intentions - most of us do. But Epicticus warns of good intentions in the best of times - what can be done in a situation like the middle east? This may not be a "feel-good" documentary (some of the best aren't) but it will give you some questions to mull over.
Some remarks about this great movie
yoss7723 July 2006
technical remarks: Avi's name is pronounced Mugrabi Shahar Degal should be Shahar Segal It is Documentary-fiction.
Avi's story is an allegory about us - left-wing Israeli citizens. We intend to follow our conscience, but here and there act otherwise, blame the circumstance.
I think Avi's as if "docu" story is built great into the 2 Documentary movies he makes for the 2 sides of this hurt land. Avi's suffer is the suffer of those who do not ignore, or at least do not completely ignore the suffer of the other side. This movie about the suffering sides in this injured land is well done. Bravo, Mr. Mugrabi!
Avi's story is an allegory about us - left-wing Israeli citizens. We intend to follow our conscience, but here and there act otherwise, blame the circumstance.
I think Avi's as if "docu" story is built great into the 2 Documentary movies he makes for the 2 sides of this hurt land. Avi's suffer is the suffer of those who do not ignore, or at least do not completely ignore the suffer of the other side. This movie about the suffering sides in this injured land is well done. Bravo, Mr. Mugrabi!
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
