Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: GOLDA [Berlinale 2023 - Berlin, Germany]

The intricacies of wars, even small ones, come down to the person living it but their connotations and intentions need to reflect in both their strengths and weaknesses. With "Golda", Helen Mirren brings another devastatingly outstanding performance in as Golda Meir, former prime minister of Israel during the Yom Kippur War in 1973. Mirren disappears into the role once the film takes off. It is about bringing humanity despite the textures of the woman including her stress smoking. The story of "Golda" focuses on the time of the Yom Kippur War in 1973 when Egypt attacked Israel. The film decides (and likely for budgetary reasons) to show the attacks and the strategy from a different perspective and mostly off screen. While this could be seen as a stage play, the cinematic elements of isolation and this woman against the world are intrinsic and well delivered.

Director Guy Nattiv creates an taut, almost Cold War thriller that is every bit as dynamic as "The Darkest Hour". The dark grays and the gliding pushes both behind Mirren and in front of her allows for some great scenes and reactions that define what the leader was, whether in the war room or on the roof escaping for a breather and a cigarette. But it is when Mirran as Meir is commanding the men under her stead that the true subtlety and dynamic is there. She is mother, schoolmaster, boss, confidant and strategist, all at once. Certain figures (like Arik Sharon) come into play and it is the humor that Meir exuded in real life that Mirren (despite not looking completely though the prosthetics get close) is able to capture. The movie cuts away to real footage of Meir at certain points and at two key moments (with the troops and then at a peace conference) really solidify this.

However above everything, it is Meir's relationship with her assistant (her family) that really grounds the story. Despite a framing mechanism that is bult in to offer an in road to the story, most of what Golda is feeling or showing is never seen outside her residence or war room. Liev Shreiber has a small but essential role as Henry Kissinger. He offers the right counterbalance to Mirren but also an understanding and humor that this kind of world politics taking place in kitchens sometimes has, despite cultural differences. Meir had health problems of her own and the filmmakers and Mirren don't shy away from it. Again the battle sequences and the way they are shown (or not shown) actually create just as much impact and lets the viewer focus on the people making the decisions without losing the meaning of the toll (which Meir's notebook captures very shrewdly and quietly). "Golda" is a dynamic performance piece while still being a very taut political thriller anchored by a rich, detailed and balanced performance by the always dynamic Helen Mirren. A

By Tim Wassberg