I thought Hunting for Elephants was a very appropriate film with which to open the Jerusalem film festival. It was a funny movie with characters that you cared about, it made jokes out of quite a few Israeli stereotypes and caricatures, but above all, it was safe and it was patriotic. What I mean by safe is that it could poke fun at bureaucracy and politics, how the elderly are treated in society, aging and the medical system, and stereotypes of what it means to be Israeli and yet not push any boundaries. This movie would anger very few people in the way that it managed to have depth and still be whimsical and play into the idea of how people view the founders of the state of Israel.
At one point Lord Simpson makes a reference to his father calling Eliyahu “that Jewish terrorist. This line stuck with me because that is an accurate description of Eliyahu and Nick’s activities in the 1940s, especially in the eyes of the British. But in the context of Hunting for Elephants this description only made the two old friends stronger protagonists. I saw a few parallels of these strong, Sabra, passionate freedom fighters/terrorists to the American narrative of the gunslinging Western cowboy who lives his life with a sense of justice that transcends the rules of government and society. You forgive any human faults they might have, such the allusion to Eliyahu cheating on his wife, because these are men of the old school where your devotion to your country and the bonds of brotherhood define you as a man. The movie certainly made the point that Jonathan would be more of a man if he took a leaf out of his grandfather’s book.
It was a hilarious movie that had such lovable characters that you could easily overlook the fact that all strong characters were men and Ashkenazi Jews (with the exception of Lord Simpson, who was hilarious, so it didn’t matter). The only women that spoke in this movie were Jonathan’s mother, her major contributions being her nagging her husband and sleeping with the bank manager, and Sigi, who was a sex object in blue spandex.
Even though I am learning the complexities of how Israel was created and how much pain there is on both sides of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, I found myself unabashedly rooting for Nick and Eliyahu to be successful in one more adventure. I wanted these old friends to regain their sense of control over their destinies, to no longer be subjected to old age and medicine, and a medical system where Nick can’t afford eye surgery.
Despite the fact that this movie only showed the most accepted narrative of what it means to be Israeli and a man I still laughed and cheered my way through the film.
At one point Lord Simpson makes a reference to his father calling Eliyahu “that Jewish terrorist. This line stuck with me because that is an accurate description of Eliyahu and Nick’s activities in the 1940s, especially in the eyes of the British. But in the context of Hunting for Elephants this description only made the two old friends stronger protagonists. I saw a few parallels of these strong, Sabra, passionate freedom fighters/terrorists to the American narrative of the gunslinging Western cowboy who lives his life with a sense of justice that transcends the rules of government and society. You forgive any human faults they might have, such the allusion to Eliyahu cheating on his wife, because these are men of the old school where your devotion to your country and the bonds of brotherhood define you as a man. The movie certainly made the point that Jonathan would be more of a man if he took a leaf out of his grandfather’s book.
It was a hilarious movie that had such lovable characters that you could easily overlook the fact that all strong characters were men and Ashkenazi Jews (with the exception of Lord Simpson, who was hilarious, so it didn’t matter). The only women that spoke in this movie were Jonathan’s mother, her major contributions being her nagging her husband and sleeping with the bank manager, and Sigi, who was a sex object in blue spandex.
Even though I am learning the complexities of how Israel was created and how much pain there is on both sides of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, I found myself unabashedly rooting for Nick and Eliyahu to be successful in one more adventure. I wanted these old friends to regain their sense of control over their destinies, to no longer be subjected to old age and medicine, and a medical system where Nick can’t afford eye surgery.
Despite the fact that this movie only showed the most accepted narrative of what it means to be Israeli and a man I still laughed and cheered my way through the film.
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