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CANNES
2002
"KEDMA",
BY AMOS GITAÏ, MAKES OF ISRAEL AN ETERNAL NIGHTMARE
"Kedma"
is the name of a cargo ship that in May 1948 transports
survivors of the Holocaust to the Palestine shores. As soon
as the poor souls land with all their traumas and suffering
under the nazi persecution even in their original countries,
as Poland, a new nightmare starts. Crossfire between the
British troops and the Palestinians that were expelled from
their lands.
Amos
Gitaï is the most critical Israeli filmmaker and it
is not a new thing. His films provoke consciousness and
are implacable with the mistakes made also by his people.
But he is not a filmmaker who opens concessions to be easily
understood. He has style, and what a style! His narration
progresses in ellipses and apparently senseless sequences,
but that are pure hypnosis.
His
political messages, these for sure, come as a blow, when
action is least expected. The construction of the narrative
is repeated to perfection in this new "Kedma",
the first feature in the competition seen last Wednesday
in Cannes.
A
great part of the movie shows the holocaust characters narrating
their private tragedies. Another great part shows the crossfire
and the massacre on both sides of the new conflict. A hell
that perpetrates itself and brings suffering until today
in the area.
On
the Palestinian side, Gitaï gives voice to only one
character, who shouts that his people will stay there with
an unbreakable wall and that generations of youngsters will
follow to fight for their rights.
On
the Jewish side, Gitaï also gives voice to despair,
making the survivor of a massacre scream what his people
does to be hated and persecuted along the centuries. At
a moment when Israel sends again all its forces against
the Palestinian settlings, Gitaï's movie is seen as
a courage act and an out-of-key voice against war's consensus.
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