Exodus (1960) -Following World War II the push for a Jewish homeland moved into high gear as Holocaust survivors attempted to leave Europe and return to Palestine. Here a group of 600 Jews are smuggled out of one of the British detention camps on Cyprus to a tramp steamer re-named "Exodus". Their goal is to defy the British blockade of Jewish immigrants. Led by a Haganah officer (Paul Newman) the refugees along with an American nurse (Eva Marie Saint) arrive in Palestine and face the many issues facing the Jews there. The conflict between Haganah ("The Defense" in Hebrew, a paramilitary force designed to defend Jewish settlements) and Irgun (an off shoot of Haganah that was decidedly more militant and aggressive) figures heavily in the story just as it did at the time.
Add this to the list of "epic" movies I've been watching recently. Otto Preminger's sweeping story of the founding of Israel runs a whopping 208 minutes. The movie is based on Leon Uris's book of the same title from 1958. It draws on the historic details of a ship named "Exodus" in 1947 that attempted to bring Jewish refugees to Palestine. The original ship was stopped well short of the shore of Palestine. Those Jews were returned to Germany and a huge international furor developed. Uris took the name and grew an monumental novel out of it.
Preminger put together the basics of a monumental screen version as well. In addition to his own visual gifts add the adapted screenplay by blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo, one of the all time great scores in my opinion by Ernest Gold (which won an Oscar) and a spot the stars cast - Newman, Saint, Ralph Richardson, Sal Mineo, Lee J. Cobb and Peter Lawford. With the beauty of the Jezreel Valley and other locations in Israel and Cyprus as a backdrop the movie is visually beautiful as well.
The politics of the story are pro-Israel which overlooks the far greater complexities not only of the time but also the modern day Middle East. Much of the troubles there have roots in Europe starting with Roman destruction of the Second Temple and the diaspora of the Hebrews. Add in centuries of oppression and hatred followed by conflicting promises made to both the Jews and Arabs by a variety of Western governments. A difficult situation has been made repeatedly worse by official decisions over the last century.
With all of that in mind "Exodus" is a stunning movie that not only entertains but should bring us all to a moment of reflection on the very human issues that continue to plague that part of our world.
Rating - **** Recommended
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