"The only man in my cabinet." David Ben-Gurion praising Golda Meir
Aided by an accomplished cast that includes Liev Schrieber as the redoubtable Henry Kissinger, whose secretary of state is also as brilliant as history has shown him, this docudrama, Golda, draws us into the machinations of a cloistered foggy war. It would be difficult to fictionalize the drama of fall 1973, when Egypt and Syria, seeing Israel becoming complacent after its victory over the Arabs in 1967, starts the Yom Kippur War to gain back The Golan Heights and The Sinai Peninsula.
What's new is Arab support by Russia, putting The US in a precarious position as a supporter of Israel and yet a customer for Arab oil. The moral ambiguity of the situation dogs USA to this day.
"Golda" is a biopic and docudrama from Israel's point of view and that of Golda Meir (Helen Mirren), Israel's 4th prime minister.
Director Guy Nattiv and writer Nicholas Martin keep the drama centered on Mirren, who interprets The Iron Lady with uncompromising integrity and rough beauty to let us know Meir was everything legend had of her, and more. She's a lady who agonizes over every soldier lost to the war yet barks, "Teach our enemies a lesson they'll never forget."
From the bun in her hair to chain smoking, Golda is a walking contradiction of smarts and weaknesses. Mirren keeps her eyes on Golda's subjects with piercing focus to make even the self-reliant Henry Kissinger uncomfortable. Her secret operations for lymphoma are emblems of her private life of suffering that promise she won't live past 80.
Just as Christopher Nolan did with Churchill in Dunkirk, while we all can learn the facts from historical accounts, little else can be as informative and insightful as a well-made docudrama.
And that's what Golda is!
