Golda
Guy Nattiv’s biog of the Israeli prime minister Golda Meir proves to be unexpectedly limited in scope yet also convincingly insightful.
Helen Mirren
An interesting but imperfect film, Golda may well suffer from one misjudgment in particular. Given the hostility in some quarters over the casting of Helen Mirren as Golda Meir, it might be thought that I was referring to that, but that’s not the case. It may well be that a Jewish actress could have been found capable of a great performance in the title role in which case the complaint might be considered not unreasonable (casting criticisms based on supposedly inappropriate sexuality are to my mind far more difficult to justify). However, in this instance, it is as it turns out Mirren’s contribution which is the film’s most successful element.
What I regard as ill-considered is another matter altogether and it lies in the choice of title. To call a film Golda is to suggest that what is on offer is a full biopic and many viewers could justifiably expect to see just that. Instead, the screenplay by Nicholas Martin is concerned exclusively with a few weeks in October 1973. Consequently, one comes away from Guy Nattiv’s film with no information about Golda’s personal life, her family or, indeed, her history. In the circumstances, some audiences will inevitably feel let down and may find it difficult to adjust to what the film does offer.
The concentrated period of the film’s focus means that this is a study of a female prime minister in a particularly difficult and complex time. A brief opening montage looks at the wider historical context referencing first of all the setting up of the state of Israel in 1948. After that Golda Meir makes her entrance in the film when facing an investigative committee in 1974, the Agranat Commission. But from that point on the film is essentially a chronological account of what had happened in the course of the Yom Kippur War. It is seen not from the viewpoint of the soldiers and airmen caught up in it but as a study of decisions taken when Israel found itself confronted by a coalition of Arab states headed by Egypt and Syria intent on taking back the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights which Israel had captured in the Six-Day War of 1967. Set mainly in Tel Aviv and in war rooms, Golda outlines the decisions taken as the action intensified and looks too at the wider political implications with Israel seeking support from Richard Nixon in America and Russia aligning with the Arabs.
This particular focus means that although centred on a war the film contains no detailed scenes of warfare and this absence of action renders this a work that relies on talk and in particular on the portrayal of the pressures put on Golda Meir. Other figures naturally have a place here ranging from the Defence Minister Moshe Dayan (Rami Heuberger) to the military chief David Elizar (Lior Ashkenazi), the Air Force general Benny Peled (Ed Stoppard) and the Mossad chief Zui Zamir (Rotem Keinan) as well as that key figure the American Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (Liev Schreiber). Of the men involved in these tactical talks Kissinger is the one who makes the strongest impression here, but all of them take second place to Golda herself, a fact that brings me to what is achieved in this film.
Any prime minister has to make political decisions that may well be far from easy and Golda Meir is ready for that but, despite the difference between being a politician and someone in military command, a war situation results in a prime minister also having to make decisions that can in retrospect be seen to have resulted in a terrible increase in the number of war dead. Martin’s screenplay is at its most effective in showing us a woman taking on this responsibility and at the same time proving that she is fully up to such a role and of earning the respect of the men around her.
Some critics have argued that Mirren is not effective in this role but such a view amazes me. For her features to resemble those of Golda Meir, prosthetics of a major kind were involved and it is often the case that such devices just draw attention to themselves in a distracting way. Not so here. Mirren's face is transformed, but behind that transformation the actress sinks into the character. She achieves this by paying special attention to two things. First, there's the use of her eyes through which she is able to indicate Golda Meir’s underlying sensitivity (if that applies to the possible consequences of her decisions on the battlefield, it is relevant also in expressing the bond between Golda and her female aide, Lou Kaddar played by Camille Cottin). Secondly, Mirren pays particular attention to the delivery of her lines so that they express the natural authority of Golda Meir in an unforced way that evidences her effective command when carrying out her duties.
Without Mirren’s skill Golda might have been ineffective. The decision to interrupt the talk with brief shots of the war such as a generalised view of soldiers on the move feels clumsy and almost suggests a fear that the talk itself will not hold up and, indeed, the detail of it can be less than riveting. It is also questionable given the subsequent history how fair it is to round off the film with the Camp David Accords of 1978 treated as though they represent peace and a lasting victory. As it happens, mention of the fact that Golda Meir was born in Ukraine can seem an unnecessary prompt to make one see parallels between this war of 1973 and the issues, political as well as military, confronting countries today. Even so, the nature of this film is such that it lacks any sense of being a stirring dramatic work of wide impact. But if you whittle it down and concentrate on it as a study of a woman's success in carrying out what is usually a man's role then Helen Mirren makes it all ring true, the triumph of doing it and the cost inherent in having to take the decisions that war imposes on a prime minister.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Cast: Helen Mirren, Camilla Cottin, Liev Schreiber, Rotem Keinan, Rami Heuberger, Dvir Benedek, Ed Stoppard, Lior Ashkenazi, Dominic Mafham, Ellie Piercy, Ohad Knoller, Henry Goodman.
Dir Guy Nattiv, Pro Michael Kuhn, Nicholas Martin and Jane Hooks, Screenplay Nicholas Martin, Ph Jasper Wolf, Pro Des Arad Sawat, Ed Arik Lahav-Leibovich, Music Dascha Davenhauer, Costumes Sinéad Kidao, Sound Niv Adiri and Tom Sayers, Dialect coaches Helen Jane Simmons and Nadia Venesse.
Maven Screen Media/Hianlo/New Native Pictures/Perfume Films/Piccadilly Pictures/Qwerty Films-Met Film Distribution.
100 mins. UK/USA. 2023. US Rel: 25 August 2023. UK Rel: 6 October 2023. Cert. 12A.
