Nostalgia Sunday – Machboim

August 2, 2009 - 12:28 PM by Rachel Neiman · Leave a 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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Sex in the holy city

June 25, 2008 - 9:00 PM by Jessica · 1 Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, General, Israeliness, Pop Culture 

Well, actually, there’s no sex in Srugim (roughly translated as Knitted, for the crocheted yarmulkes worn by the mostly Modern Orthodox guys in this series), the new Yes satellite channel relationship drama about religious twenty- and thirtysomethings in Jerusalem. That’s because this is a show about the dating dilemmas, romances and friendships of this very particular crowd, who may kiss, but not necessarily, and generally don’t do boy-girl sleepovers either, except if they’ve had too much to drink and shouldn’t be driving.

And when they do sleep over, as one male character does in the first episode of the show, he asks if either of the two female roommates has tefillin that he can use, which, of course, they don’t. When they get him a pair from the next-door neighbor who is both female and American, he says he can’t use a “Reform lesbian’s tefillin.” At which point, the roommate with whom he had been on the date, tells him to leave.

It’s fairly ground-breaking stuff for Israeli television, given that Laizy Shapira, the creator of the series, takes a long, detailed look at the world of dati, religious Israelis, but with an honest lens. There’s nothing derogatory about the focus either, which may say something about how far Israeli society has come. There was a time, and not so long ago, when I don’t think Israeli television could support a show about the challenges and mores of modern, religious Israeli society.

But times seem to have changed, and here’s a drama that offers pathos, humor and some necessary sarcasm in looking at the lives of these singles and their search for love and truth. Judging by the comments on the YES website, viewers are ready for the next episode, although one did comment that a show without sex just isn’t a TV show. I guess they’ll have to wait and see.

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