In the new film “Golda,” Helen Mirren portrays Golda Meir, Israel’s first female prime minister, who faced difficult decisions in 1973 when Israel fought Arab armies in both the Sinai and Golan Heights during the Yom Kippur War.
Meir, known as the Iron Lady of Israel, is an admired figure internationally but is a more controversial figure in Israel. Israel born director Guy Nattiv, now based in America, aims to put this remarkable person in a new light by focusing on her during the Yom Kippur War.
Casting Mirren in this production has led to controversy because she is not Jewish, but it was Meir’s grandson Gideon Meir who suggested the casting. And Mirren’s carefully researched and restrained performance creates little room for criticism. Her physical transformation, with heavy makeup and prosthetics, is impressive enough to draw gasps.
After a brief montage of archival material to recap some Israeli history, “Golda” opens with Prime Minister Meir being questioned by the postwar Agranat Commission, which is investigating controversial decisions made during the war. why Israel was unprepared for attacks by Egyptian and Syrian forces. The commission is used as a framing device for Golda to tell her story of the war.
That retelling begins with Meir getting a report from Zvi Zamir (Israeli actor Rotem Keinan), the head of Mossad, Israel’s intelligence service, about a source warning of an imminent attack by Egypt and Syria, Israel’s neighbors to the south and north. The warning comes in October, just as Yom Kippur is approaching.
Unfortunately, this same Mossad source warned of an attack earlier in the year that never took place. Meir knows Defense Minister Moshe Dayan (Israeli actor Rami Heuberger) will be skeptical of the new report. When she meets with her all-male military advisers, they show her little respect, barely remembering to stand for her as they would for any prime minister.
Overconfident after the success of the Six Day War, the generals mostly dismiss the idea of an attack during the High Holy Days, even though Meir warns that it is a perfect time for one. Military intelligence head Eli Zeira (Israeli actor Dvir Benedek) assures her that their secret listening system will warn them of any attack well in advance. He is wrong.
The film is packed with famous figures of Israeli history. The cast includes Israeli stars Lior Ashkenazi as Gen. David “Dado” Elazar, Ohad Knoller as a young Ariel Sharon and Liev Schreiber plays U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.
While billed as a political thriller, “Golda” lacks the pulse-pounding pace of a thriller. It is more a tense, involving drama as we follow Meir as she copes with a war on two fronts, a team of overconfident generals who are shocked when their forces are at first overwhelmed, and her own anguish over war casualties. Meir had a remarkable life by any standard, but “Golda” is neither a true biopic nor a battlefield epic, and people expecting either will be disappointed.
Mirren gives a taut portrayal of Meir during a critical moment in Israeli history. Among the film’s best moments are when Meir charms and cajoles Kissinger into providing aid for Israel, despite the Watergate scandal unfolding at the same time. They talk by phone, and then Kissinger visits Israel to talk in person. Meir feeds Kissinger borscht and then gets to work.
Schreiber’s Kissinger cautions her, “Madame Prime Minister, in terms of our work together, I think it is important to remember I am first an American, second I am Secretary of State, and third I am a Jew.”
Meir replies: “You forget that in Israel, we read from right to left.”
It provides a rare moment of lightness and humor in the drama.
Mirren’s Golda is a chain-smoking, flinty character with a sharp political mind and cunning skill in manipulating the men who surround her and anticipating the plans of her enemies.
At the time, Meir was 76 years old and suffering from cancer, which is depicted in a few scenes. She was in poor physical shape, so travel to the war zone was difficult, which means this wartime story takes place mostly in Meir’s office, as well as in the hallways and bunkers where Meir and her generals discuss military actions and listen to radio reports from the two fronts.
Watching this grandmotherly figure navigate Israeli and international politics while making decisive, smart strategic military decisions is inspiring and one of the highlights of Mirren’s performance. Away from war meetings, we also see the more haunted and personal side of Meir.
“Golda” takes great pains to re-create the period’s look. Nattiv captures the horror of the war with archival footage and works hard to accurately portray Meir’s clothing, appearance and smoking, as well as the look of her office and other spaces where the story unfolds, with the help of Meir’s grandson as a consultant.
Some of the archival footage shows the real Golda Meir, and in other clips Mirren is digitally inserted into the archival image.
The personal side of Meir comes out mostly in her scenes with her personal assistant and friend Lou Kaddar (French actress Camille Cottin), which are warm and sometimes depict her defiance or moments of doubt.
The soundtrack is tense, often with a percussive character and metallic, strident bells. The film concludes with the perfect choice of Leonard Cohen’s “Who by Fire,” which he wrote after visiting Israeli troops during this war.
“Golda,” in English and Hebrew with English subtitles, opens Friday, Aug. 25, at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinema.
