Helen Mirren is…you guessed it! And she’s simply outstanding. Courtesy of Bleecker Street.I can’t and will not ever imagine pondering the stress it takes to run a country, a state, a “society,” you name it! Presidents. Mayors. Sheriffs. Even back in high school, I eschewed any distinctly remote thought of running for Class President. The thought terrified me, and that was just high school. Real countries with actual, tangible, non-AI human beings authorizing every decision and choosing what to do if a war or similarly catastrophic event is imminent? Good grief, that is scary.
History books have analyzed, revered, and frowned upon international “leaders” (I’ll use that word broadly) since history class became a subject in school. We are always taught the decisions they made, deemed good or questionable, but that is mostly it. We are never thrown deep into the psyches of these individuals, probably because history is never-ending, and we can only talk about one topic for so long. What were these rulers thinking as they controlled their countries? History is tricky because it may present the facts of an event but not necessarily the reasons. In reading and memorizing so many facts, we lose track of the reality of the temerity these people held in their positions and the status quo of their situations. To do so, we would need to read a lot more biographies. (Also, just a side note, I’m not humanizing EVERY leader on the planet. I know that many of them have been VERY bad!)
GOLDA, for example, one of the most talked about films in the 2023 Jewish film world, reaffirms the audacity we forget that leaders possessed to run a nation, added with the substantial physical and emotional toll it took on them. Whether we agree or disagree with their actions is one thing. The common fact is this: being a leader is DIFFICULT.
Now, let me cut right to the chase. I call GOLDA one of the “most talked about” films because of some controversy surrounding this Golda Meir biopic. The posh, Academy Award winning legend of cinema, Helen Mirren, portrays Israel’s prime minister, but she is neither Israeli nor Jewish. This brings up a huge question that has been bugging moviegoers for years now: is it appropriate for non-Jewish actors to portray Jewish characters? Let’s not forget last year when many moviegoers questioned Michelle Williams, a non-Jew, portraying Steven Spielberg’s mother in The Fabelmans (2022). The same goes for other ethnicities or sexual orientations. Is it “fair” for non-queer actors, for example, to play queer characters? Isn’t, however, the fun of acting getting to explore these different sides? On the other hand, haven’t so many Jewish or queer actors been typecast for too long now while other, more prolific actors get their roles?
Oy vey. It’s a sensitive topic, indeed, and I think both sides of the argument are entirely fair. Without going down that rabbit hole, all I’ll say is this: Mirren is PHENOMENAL as Golda Meir. This is no surprise, of course, because we are talking about one of the most iconic actors of our time. At 78 years old, Mirren hasn’t lost her touch. Even in mediocre movies, even in movies where Mirren has a line or two, she steals it. She currently narrates this year’s megahit, Barbie (2023), and literally every time I talk to someone about the movie, they mention how much they loved Mirren. She’s in every scene in GOLDA, and whether you disagree with her casting, there’s no denying that she is simply outstanding.
To play Israel’s “Iron Lady” is certainly a bold feat. I feel like everyone, even non-Jews or people not familiar with Israeli history, recognizes Golda Meir. There’s just something about her that has made an imprint on our minds. We all recognize those black-and-white photos of that petite old woman with her hair tied holding a cigarette, sometimes accompanied by her “Golda Shoes.” In the context of Israeli history, the big appeal is the fact that a woman – I repeat, a WOMAN – became a prime minister not too long after the birth of the State of Israel. Compared to some other countries, how long did it take them to get a female leader? (How long did it take for us, Americans, to get a female Vice President?) It’s just incredible to believe that the gender role was reversed amidst such a tempestuous period in Israel. People are astounded by that fact, a female leader who ran a country not in the early 2000s but 1969 to 1974, five years where (in America, at least) you would probably be laughed at if you considered the possibility of having a woman in office. We’ve come a long time, and Golda’s legacy demonstrates the possibility of change in gender politics.
Now Golda, however, like any politician, has her enemies. In GOLDA¸ the central focus is on the prime minister’s life during the start of the Yom Kippur War of 1973. Israel was victorious in the Six-Day War just six years prior, and no one was prepared for another strike from Egypt and Syria. The attack surprised the nation just as much as Golda, who, as we see, is already physically declining, smoking cigarettes at her medical exams.
The prime minister is accustomed to chaos at this point, at ease with her decisions yet understandably distraught. This is now Israel’s third big war since 1948, and the politician has already dealt with Jew-hatred since childhood, hiding from antisemitic Cossacks in modern-day Ukraine. Director Guy Nattiv (Skin) trades big-budget battle sequences for intelligently shot close-ups of Mirren’s concerned visage juxtaposed with brutal sound effects of guns and bomb detonations to demonstrate Meir’s anxiety. This is an intensely claustrophobic movie, a story where, like Golda, we can’t escape the situation. As the war rages, Golda is given suggestions by a number of real-life figures, including US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (Liev Schreiber), about the best ways to destabilize the enemies. Golda, the more we see her, is questioning her own duties and responsibilities. Should she be penalized or treated with humanity for her actions, or lack thereof?
GOLDA is a LOT, as you can see. It’s a movie not just for Israeli history buffs but anyone who is curious on the actual pain it takes to run a country. The story of Golda Meir and the Yom Kippur War is a unique one in the way it has divided so many people. Was Golda right? Did she make mistakes? Regardless of what she did, she was just a human being, a human with a heck of a lot on her plate.
GOLDA is now playing in theaters.