In “Golda,” casting Helen Mirren — a White, internationally renowned, British actress — is a metaphor for the way the film blurs Israeli identity with a generalized White, Western identity, writes Noah Berlatsky.
In Guy Nattiv’s new feature film “Golda,” which arrived in theaters Friday, Helen Mirren plays Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir during the crisis of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Mirren is not Jewish, and she wears heavy makeup to look like the unglamorous, chain-smoking politician. Accordingly, the movie is inevitably fodder for an ongoing discussion about whether non-Jewish performers should play Jewish roles.
Kissinger was an important figure; American willingness to provide military supplies and diplomatic pressure was crucial to Israeli victory. The movie suggests, though, that Washington’s decisions were motivated by morality rather than realpolitik. According to the film, Meir appealed to Kissinger’s Jewish roots and sense of decency by reminding him, subtly and not so subtly, of antisemitic atrocities in Russia and Germany.
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