Nostalgia Sunday – Ghosts of Cinemas Past

May 23, 2010 - 10:26 PM by · 3 Comments
Filed under: Art, Blogging, design, General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Life, Movies, Nostalgia Sunday, Pop Culture 

Architect Sharon Raz is a man with a mission: to capture Israel’s disappearing architectural heritage on film, and write about it, too. Going through Raz’s blog, Natush (meaning: “abandoned”) and his Disappearing Architecture website is like falling into a deep, deep well of what once was.

It can also be sad. It means revisiting ideals once held dear — from the fantasy architecture of early Tel Aviv and practical, functional Bauhaus to the swoops and whooshes of our Fabulous 60s (the Fabulous 50s came here a decade late) — seeing how they were expressed in concrete and stucco, and coming to terms with their current state of neglect and decay.

Raz’s special project on Israel’s shuttered cinemas reflects the state of things in general. Movie theaters have given way to small screened mega-multiplexes that, although far cleaner (one must never forget that for generations, Israeli movie goers were warned, “Do not roll bottles or crack sunflower seeds during the show”), they also lack soul.

Raz has methodically visited movie-houses around the country and created a comprehensive index of Israeli movie-houses that includes, in his words, “[the] old, abandoned, closed, destroyed, refurbished, some still standing, some under threat of the wrecking ball.”

With an architect’s eye for detail, Raz tries to present his viewers not only with general site shots but also the little things: the staircase that once led up to the balcony of Jerusalem’s Orna Cinema, now a stairway leading nowhere at the downtown McDonald’s. The Eden at the bottom of Lilenblum Street, Tel Aviv’s first movie-house — still elegant and seemingly waiting for customers to start lining up at any moment. And another Eden Cinema, this one in Jerusalem, whose whimsically round ticket booth now stands at the back end of a grotty parking lot. The Ron in Haifa, gaily decorated with mosaic musicians. Beer Sheva’s Orot, a circle of concrete diamonds, the motif repeated in the wrought iron ticket booth bars. All stand empty.

“In this life’s work, which is original, unique, voluntary, activist and Sisyphean, I work with conviction to preserve on film for future generations our constructed environment. I photograph many structures – abandoned factories, neglected vacation spots, empty houses, shops, industries, farms, centers for culture and recreation, public and private buildings — most of them old and abandoned. But of all the structures I photographed, I’m particularly proud of the old movie-houses. They are romance incarnate; structures we all remember and hold dear in our hearts, buildings where vast numbers of citizens visited, that gave birth to endless memories and longings.”

Raz’s Disappearing Architecture website and Natush blog are available only in Hebrew but there are amazing photos, including pictures of how the cinemas looked in their heyday. Definitely worth a click.

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Nostalgia Sunday – Machboim

August 2, 2009 - 12:28 PM by · 1 Comment
Filed under: General, Movies, Nostalgia Sunday, Pop Culture 

Israeli director Dan Wolman is best-known for his film version of My Michael (1974) but another of his films, Machboim (Hide and Seek), made its own mark in 1980 as the first Israeli film about homosexuality.

If there was ever a reason to pick up a copy of Machboim, the shooting last night at a Gay-Lesbian youth drop-in center in Central Tel Aviv is enough. There have been other gay-themed films made since — from the late Amos Guttman’s film Nagua m which was hailed in 1983 as a groundbreaker for bringing AIDS to general awareness, to Yossi and Jagger (2002), about two soldiers who fall in love, which was all but mainstream at the box office.

But Machboim, which is set in 1946, was first to address the conflict, denial and ugly aggression against male homosexuality that is part and parcel of any macho society. That same machismo, the film suggests, was perhaps necessary to forge a national identity and bring the State of Israel into being, but is still rooted in the Israeli psyche. It is an uncomfortable thought.

A fairly short if uninformative interview with Woman can be found on YouTube. It’s not about Machboim. Probably just best to rent the film.

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Nostalgia Sunday – Going to the movies

December 14, 2008 - 11:42 AM by · 2 Comments
Filed under: General, Israeliness, Life, Movies, Nostalgia Sunday, Pop Culture 

Went to see Bolt last night, the new Disney-Pixar marvel. There we were, Dolby-branded polarized glasses on our noses, set to enjoy the latest technological advancements in 3-D animation. And then the real Israel intruded in the form of popcorn being flung periodically by tee-hee-hee-ing teenage girls in the back row, reminding me of an iron-clad rule from long ago: never go see a movie in Israel on Saturday night.

It was on a Saturday night that we went to see “Dirty Dancing”. The cinema’s name eludes me (it was at the corner of Dizengoff and Frishman) but I can never forget the fight that broke out between two girls, one of whom accused the other of blocking her view and — it was squealed repeatedly — having grown too tall. The row went on for quite a long time until an usher broke it up.

No ushers came to our aid last night – are there even professional ushers anymore? – and in general, movie-going here ain’t what it used to be. Some parts of that experience are greatly missed. True, on one hand, there used to be signs posted in every cinema that said, “No sunflower seed cracking and no bottle rolling,” in a vain attempt to thwart those activities most beloved of the audience. No, don’t miss that part. On the other hand, going to the movies in the days of one-channel television was a social event. Everyone went.

And everyone went to see whatever, because films came to Israel months, even years, after they were released in the US. Even first-run movie houses would occasionally screen bygone gems like “Gone With the Wind” or “Doctor No,” for lack of anything new to show.

Before the film and during intermission, a man would walk up and down the aisles, selling “Cassata” ice cream sandwiches and “Eskimo limon” popsicles. Israel’s cinema-owners still persist in stopping films for an annoying 5-minute intermission, but the straight-to-your-seat Cassata man service is gone, replaced by standing in line buy cola and popcorn that is apparently as good for throwing as it is for eating.

Wikipedia in Hebrew has a lovely entry about Tel Aviv’s old movie houses, chiefly the legendary Mugrabi Cinema; built in 1930 it was damaged by fire in 1986 and torn down in 1989.

It also has the name of the movie house at the corner of Frishman and Dizengoff – the Passage Hod. The Esther Cinema in Dizengoff Circle, you will learn, has been turned into a lovely boutique hotel. The panoramic tour of the lobby (where the old projector sits) is definitely worth a click.

Have any memories of movie-going in Israel to share? Bad or good, we’d love to hear them.

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