arts & culture
‘Image of Victory’ shows
limits of idealism
T Photo courtesy of MPRM Communications
SASHA ROGELBERG | STAFF WRITER
here’s just as much singing
and dancing as there is armed
combat in Israeli director Avi
Nesher’s fi lm “Image of Victory.”
In the fi nal days of the Nitzanim kib-
butz in late 1947 and early 1948, in order
to cope with the mishmashed squad of
rejected soldiers and former prisoners sent
to protect the village from an impending
attack from Egyptian forces, residents of
the kibbutz bang on the table and sing
“Dayenu”; they dance in partners to what-
ever tunes a teenage soldier can muster to
play on an out-of-tune piano.

Meanwhile, Egyptian journal-
ist-turned-documentarian Mohamed
Hassanin Heikal (Amir Khoury) is
assigned to fi lm the ambush in hopes
of getting footage to propagandize the
Egyptian king’s military prowess. Th e
hungry, wannabe fi lmmaker is more con-
cerned with fi nding good angles than he
is with the war continuing around him.

On both sides of the violence, “Image
of Victory” balances the humanity and
ferocity of war, showing the lengths
humans will go to pursue or fi ght war
what they love, to a fault, even with their
lives on the line. Th e fi lm starts stream-
ing July 15 on Netfl ix, one of the fi rst
Israeli fi lms on the streaming service.

But as the Nesher attempts to tell a
balanced story with protagonists on both
sides of the Arab-Israeli war, the fi lm’s
own ambition and idealism washes away
some of its own potency.

Th e fi lm, which begins with a fl ash-
forward to Hassanin as a middle-aged,
well-established journalist, is predicated
on Hassanin’s fascination with Mira (Joy
Reiger), a young mother and Nitzanim
resident who commits an unknown act
of heroism.

Th e audience comes to know Mira as
headstrong, whip smart and fi ercely loyal
to her village and her young son, becom-
ing the de facto leader of the kibbutz’s
futile eff orts to stave off attacks from
Arab forces.

As Hassanin takes an interest in fi lm-
ing a budding love story between an
Arab soldier and a woman from a nearby
town, he establishes himself as a roman-
tic, thinking that the power of love will
appeal to the king of Egypt more than a
story of a military victory.

Hassanin travels with a group of rag-
gedy bearded soldiers in soiled clothing,
and his own white suit and clean shaven
face betray his place in the war. He’s
more loyal to a good story than he is to
his country.

“You see your enemy as a real person,
and it does something to you,” he said.

Nesher is keen to humanize soldiers on
both sides of the war beyond the story’s
two protagonists. Arab soldier Salman
gives soft looks to the woman he is try-
ing to court; the kibbutz’s ragtag soldiers
enjoy a swim aft er alluding to their sur-
vival of the Holocaust.

But the fi lm fails to deliver on many of
the character’s stories, and though Nesher
is generous enough to give most everyone
a back story, the lack of attention to each
individual is unsatisfying. As many of the
characters in the fi lm meet tragic ends,
the desired eff ect of drawing sympathy
from the audience is achieved; it would
perhaps be more eff ective if the audience
could remember each character’s name.

Th e same can be said of the story of the
two protagonists. Th ough a complicated
and charismatic force, Mira’s story gets
lost in the shuffl e of battle, and though
her story has closure, the fi lm is quick to
assign meaning to it without giving the
audience a chance to make up their own
minds about her.

Conversely, as Hassanin is forced to
reckon with his actions as a young man
complicit in war propaganda, there is lit-
tle resolution to his angst and not enough
context in the fi lm to create fulfi lling
meaning to him.

Th ough the fi lm’s two hour run time
is not long enough to fl esh out the sto-
ry’s characters, it gives enough detail to
Amir Khoury as Hassanin in “Image
of Victory”
ensure they are all endearing, even if
underdeveloped. “Image of Victory” is a story about the
horrors of war, though it sometimes wants
to be a love story, an anti-war story and
a fi ctional memoir all in one. Just as the
ambitions of Nesher’s characters got the
best of them, “Image of Victory,” in some
moments, seems to suff er the same fate.

Nesher nevertheless tells the story based
on true events with assured authority. JE
srogelberg@midatlanticmedia.com JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
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