Berlin-Jerusalem (1989)

Synopsis: BERLIN-JERUSALEM tells the story of two women who emigrate from Germany to Palestine in the 1940s. Tania (Rivka Neuman) is a revolutionary, eager to have a hand in the development of the new Jewish state. She battles the sexism of her new comrades, and urges them to make peace with their Arab... BERLIN-JERUSALEM tells the story of two women who emigrate from Germany to Palestine in the 1940s. Tania (Rivka Neuman) is a revolutionary, eager to have a hand in the development of the new Jewish state. She battles the sexism of her new comrades, and urges them to make peace with their Arab neighbors. After her lover is killed in a skirmish with the Arabs, she becomes disillusioned. Else (Lisa Kreuzer), whose character is named for the poet, Else Lasker-Schuler, has an artist's temperament, and reluctantly leaves Berlin only when it becomes clear that the Nazis are a threat to every Jewish life. Gitai frequently inserts voiceovers of Lasker-Schuler's solemn poetry, to show how the events in her life influenced her work. The film is also strong and precise visually, as when a group of garishly made-up Berlin women on their way to a party stop and pose for the camera, invoking a painting by Ernst Kirchner. Throughout the film, Gitai captures a turmoil that is both personal and political, and, as is often the case in his work, the line between narrative and documentary is eventually blurred, as he forces the viewer to confront the story's similarities to Israel of the present day. This film was screened as part of an Amos Gitai retrospective organized by New York City's Anthology Film Archives. [More]