Kippur
| Kippur | |
|---|---|
 DVD release cover | |
| Directed by | Amos Gitai |
| Written by |
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| Produced by |
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| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Kino International |
Release dates |
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Running time | 123 minutes |
| Country | Israel |
| Language | Hebrew |
| Box office | $114,283[1] |
Kippur (Hebrew: כיפור) is a 2000 Israeli drama war film directed by Amos Gitai. The storyline was conceived from a screenplay written by Gitai and Marie-Jose Sanselme; based on Gitai's own experiences as a member of a helicopter rescue crew during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. The film stars actors Liron Levo, Tomer Russo and Uri Klauzner in principal roles.
A joint collective effort to commit to the film's production was made by
Kippur premiered in theaters nationwide in Israel on October 5, 2000. The film was screened through limited release in the United States on November 3, 2000 grossing $114,283 in domestic ticket receipts. In the U.S., Kippur was at its widest release showing in 5 theaters nationwide. It was generally met with positive critical reviews before its initial screening in cinemas.
Plot
It is October 6, 1973, and
The next morning, they are awakened by Dr. Klauzner (Uri Klauzner), who asks for a ride to Ramat David where he serves on the air force base there. After transporting Dr. Klauzner to the base, Weinraub and Ruso agree to volunteer with a first-aid rescue team. Their ongoing mission involves evacuating dead and wounded soldiers from the battlefield. Later on October 10, their helicopter crew is deployed to Syria for a covert operation. During their mission, the helicopter is struck by a missile, killing one of the co-pilots and injuring everyone on board. Weinraub and Ruso are among those who survive, and are picked by another rescue helicopter. They become patients at a field hospital, thus ending their role in the war.
Cast
| Liron Levo | ... Weinraub |
| Tomer Russo | ... Russo |
| Uri Klauzner | ... Dr. Klauzner |
| Yoram Hattab | ... Pilot |
| Juliano Mer-Khamis | ... Officer |
| Guy Amir | ... Gadassi |
| Ran Kauchinsky | ... Shlomo |
| Kobi Livne | ... Kobi |
| Liat Levo | ... Dina |
| Pini Mittleman | ... Hospital Doctor |
Production
Development
The premise of Kippur is based on the true story of the
The emotional impact on the individual Israeli soldiers is expanded upon in the film.[6] The complete transformation from a quiet civilian life to a chaotic war scene is depicted in the storyline. The Israeli soldiers cope with assisting dead and seriously wounded troops, while taking enemy fire.[6]
Filming
The film is largely autobiographical, based on Gitai's own experiences as a member of a helicopter rescue crew during the war.[7][8] Scenes were shot with the assistance of the Israeli Defense Forces which provided much of the military equipment used in the film. Most of the characters are named after the actors who play them, with the exception of the title character, who is given only the last name Weinraub, which was Amos Gitai's family name until his father changed it to the Hebrew name Gitai.[7]
The helicopter crash that ends the film actually happened. Gitai's helicopter was shot down by a Syrian missile on his 23rd birthday. The co-pilot was killed and several others wounded. Gitai reportedly considered it the pivotal moment of his life.[7]
Music
The score for the film was originally composed by musician Jan Garbarek.[9] The sound effects in the film were supervised by Alex Claude.[9] The mixing of the sound effects were orchestrated by Philippe Amouroux and Cyril Holtz while being supervised by Eli Yarkoni.[9]
Reception
Critical response
Among mainstream critics in the U.S., the film received mostly positive reviews.
Kevin Thomas, writing in the Los Angeles Times said, Kippur was a "classic war film, at once elegiac and immediate, that takes you smack into the chaos of combat yet is marked by a detached perspective."[14] Lisa Schwarzbaum in Entertainment Weekly offered a mostly positive review commenting, "Amos Gitai's intense, autobiographically based drama is set during Israel's 1973 Yom Kippur War, but current Middle East tensions add urgency to this stark study in the unglorious matter of factness of battle." She expressed satisfaction by saying, "this sobering antiwar war movie is his rueful acknowledgment of those who fight with no Godot in sight."[8] In The Village Voice, critic J. Hoberman reserved compliment for the lead acting and directing saying, "Gitai's strategy encourages the viewer to ponder the logistics of war—as well as those of filming war." He noted though, that the "ensemble acting sometimes falters, and due to Gitai's camera placement, it can be difficult to distinguish between the various characters—although Klauzner establishes an indelible identity in a brief moment of downtime when he discusses his childhood in Europe during World War II."[15]
| "Closely based on Gitai's own combat experience during the Yom Kippur War and filmed with the utmost attention to detail, this mission is the movie—as well as the most radical narrative filmmaking of Gitai's career." |
| —J. Hoberman, writing in The Village Voice[15] |
"There's not a lot in terms of story, but the sheer, visceral physicality of the mise-en-scène makes the movie engrossing throughout".—G.A., writing in Time Out[18]
David Sterritt of The Christian Science Monitor bluntly referred to the film as "Both a blood-churning war movie and a mind-stirring antiwar movie, focusing not on guts and glory but on the stark realities of real battlefield experience."[21] Critic Ken Fox of TV Guide was impressed with Gitai's film calling it "Raw" and "completely devoid of the things one expects from a war film: No heroes, no flag-waving, no screeds against man killing man." He exclaimed, "Kippur is about the actual work of combat."[22] Writer Ella Taylor for LA Weekly viewed Kippur as a "radically different – more nakedly autobiographical, more naturalistic, more forgiving – from Gitai's highly conceptual and stylized body of work, there are clear thematic continuities."[23] Left unimpressed though, was critic Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter who wrote that the film was "A patience-trying docudrama almost completely devoid of any trace of narrative structure or even defined characters."[24] Critic Leonard Maltin referred to the film as being "unique" and "a painstaking, grueling picture of war."[25]
Box office
The film premiered in cinemas on November 3, 2000 in limited release throughout the U.S.. During its opening weekend, the film opened in a distant 66th place grossing $17,007 in business showing at 5 locations.[26] The film Charlie's Angels soundly beat its competition during that weekend opening in first place with $40,128,550.[26] The film's revenue dropped by 29% in its second week of release, earning $11,981.[27] For that particular weekend, the film fell to 71st place screening in 4 theaters but not challenging a top fifty position. The film Charlie's Angels, remained in first place grossing $24,606,860 in box office revenue.[28] In its final limited weekend showing in theaters, the film ended up in 99th place grossing $1,978.[27] The film went on to top out domestically at $114,283 in total ticket sales through a 10-week theatrical run.[1][27] For 2000 as a whole, the film would cumulatively rank at a box office performance position of 303.[1]
Home media
Following its cinematic release in theaters, the film was released in
See also
- 2000 in Israeli film
Bibliography
- Rabinovich, Abraham (2005). The Yom Kippur War: The Epic Encounter That Transformed the Middle East. Schocken. ISBN 978-0-8052-1124-5.
- Herzog, Chaim (2009). War Of Atonement: The Inside Story of the Yom Kippur War. Casemate. ISBN 978-1-935149-13-2.
- Dunstan, Simon (2007). The Yom Kippur War: The Arab-Israeli War of 1973. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84603-288-2.
- Blum, Howard (2004). The Eve of Destruction: The Untold Story of the Yom Kippur War. Harper Perennial. ISBN 978-0-06-001400-1.
- Gerrard, Howard (2003). Campaign 118: The Yom Kippur War 1973 (1) The Golan Heights. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84176-220-3.
- Oren, Michael (2003). Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East. Presidio Press. ISBN 978-0-345-46192-6.
- Boyne, Walter (2002). The Two O'Clock War: The 1973 Yom Kippur Conflict and the Airlift That Saved Israel. Thomas Dunne Books. ISBN 978-0-312-27303-3.
- Asher, Dani (2009). The Egyptian Strategy for the Yom Kippur War: An Analysis. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-4253-9.
- Dunstan, Simon (2009). Centurion vs T-55: Yom Kippur War 1973. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84603-369-8.
- Adan, Avraham (1991). On the Banks of the Suez: An Israeli General's Personal Account of the Yom Kippur War. Presidio Press. ISBN 978-0-89141-043-0.
- Hampton, Wilborn (2009). War in the Middle East: A Reporter's Story: Black September and the Yom Kippur War. Candlewick. ISBN 978-0-7636-4376-8.
- Kumaraswamy, P.R. (2000). Revisiting the Yom Kippur War. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-7146-8067-5.
- Shaelv, Aryeh (2010). Israel's Intelligence Assessment Before the Yom Kippur War: Disentangling Deception and Distraction. Sussex Academic Press. ISBN 978-1-84519-370-6.
- Bar-Joseph, Uri (2005). The Watchman Fell Asleep: The Surprise Of Yom Kippur And Its Sources. State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-6481-6.
References
- ^ a b c "Kippur". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
- ^ a b "Festival de Cannes: Kippur". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-10-10.
- ^ USMC Major Michael C. Jordan (1997). "The 1973 Arab-Israeli War: Arab Policies, Strategies, and Campaigns". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
- ^ Rabinovich, 497–498
- ^ Rabinovich, 237
- ^ Kino International.
- ^ a b c "Independent Films, Film Profiles Kippur". Film Annex. Archived from the original on 2013-01-22. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
- ^ a b Schwarzbaum, Lisa (November 10, 2000). Kippur (2000) Archived 2012-10-19 at the Wayback Machine. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
- ^ a b c d "Kippur (2000)". Yahoo! Movies. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
- ^ a b Kippur. Metacritic. CNET Networks. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
- ^ Kippur (2000). Rotten Tomatoes. IGN Entertainment. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
- ^ "Toronto International Film Festival". tiff.net. Retrieved 2010-10-20.
- ^ "Previous Political Film Society Award Winners". Political Film Society. Retrieved 2010-10-18.
- ^ Thomas, Kevin (November 2000). Kippur. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
- ^ a b Hoberman, J. (October 31, 2000). Veterans of Disorder Archived 2010-05-23 at the Wayback Machine. The Village Voice. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
- ^ Scott, A.O. (October 5, 2000). FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW; The Reality Of War, Traffic Jams And All. The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
- ^ Axmaker, Sean (January 26, 2001). 'Kippur' tells stark story of Six Day War. Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
- ^ Time Out. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
- ^ Camper, Fred (February 7, 2001). Kippur. Chicago Reader. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
- NY Daily News. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
- ^ Sterrit, David (November 2000). Kippur. The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
- ^ Fox, Ken (November 2000). Kippur:Review Archived 2012-05-28 at the Wayback Machine. TV Guide. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
- ^ Taylor, Ella (November 2000). Kippur. LA Weekly. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
- ^ Rechtshaffen, Michael (May 12, 2001). Kippur. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
- ISBN 978-0-452-28978-9.
- ^ a b "Weekend Box Office November 3–5, 2000". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
- ^ a b c "Kippur Box Office Data". The Numbers. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
- ^ "November 10–12, 2000 Weekend". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
- ^ "Kippur VHS Format". Amazon. 28 August 2001. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
External links
- Official website
- Kippur at The Films of Amos Gitai
- Kippur at IMDb
- Kippur at AllMovie
- Kippur at Rotten Tomatoes
- Kippur at Metacritic
- Kippur at Box Office Mojo
