Heder 514

Viewed at the Los Angeles Israeli film festival of 2013 "ROOM 514" is kind of a companion piece to "Rock the Casbah" in that it is also a film that addresses the internal conflict within Israeli Society between acute security needs and essential Jewish morality, in this case by bluntly questioning Israeli military behavior against Arab civilians. Anna is a young attractive Russian immigrant who will soon be going to law school and is fulfilling her military service obligation as an interrogator in army legality cases. The case assigned to her is one of alleged physical abuse of Arab civilians beyond the call of duty by a small patrol in the occupied territories. She is a relentless questioner out to prove herself and the male chauvinism of the hardened soldiers under questioning does not phase her in the least. Bit by bit she dredges up the embarrassing facts until finally the leader of the group, Davidi, a war hero is forced to admit his guilt. A general is called in to try to pressure her into dropping the case but it's too late -Davidi, to save face has committed suicide! Other than a brief breakaway for a panting quickie with her superior officer and a couple of bus rides home after work, almost the entire 90 minutes of the film take place in the single room of the title in head to head confrontations, and is filmed in relentless facial close ups most of the way creating an intense claustrophobic space enclosing the mounting drama. This is literally a chamber piece on a small canvas, but a very promising directorial debut by Sharon Bar-Ziv. The film has traveled to many festivals and actress Asia Naifeld, who plays Anna and is in every single scene, was nominated for an Israeli Oscar as best actress in 2012. All of these films were supported by the Israel Film Fund (Keren Kolnoa Israeli) which indicates an open-mindedness and self criticism one could hardly expect from filmmakers on the other side of the fence. Bottom Line: Unflinching self-critical hardball is another winner from Israel

I screened Bar Ziv's film at the Tribeca Film Festival in April, and it is excellent!

The female lead, Anna, is played by Asia Naifeld, and her performance is amazing. She plays opposite Guy Kapulnik, who is also great. Anna conducts the investigation in a 3x3 metre room, where she interrogates those accused of abuse while contending with personal calls from her ageing mother (hilarious).

Anna is under pressure from her superiors to close the investigation and exonerate the soldiers, but she is relentless. The camera work is masterful, using long fixed shots which capture every emotion. The room is a microcosm of contemporary Israeli society. The ending - dramatic and unexpected - is open to debate.

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Viewed at the Los Angeles Israeli film festival of 2013 "ROOM 514" is kind of a companion piece to "Rock the Casbah" in that it is also a film that addresses the internal conflict within Israeli Society between acute security needs and essential Jewish morality, in this case by bluntly questioning Israeli military behavior against Arab civilians. Anna is a young attractive Russian immigrant who will soon be going to law school and is fulfilling her military service obligation as an interrogator in army legality cases. The case assigned to her is one of alleged physical abuse of Arab civilians beyond the call of duty by a small patrol in the occupied territories. She is a relentless questioner out to prove herself and the male chauvinism of the hardened soldiers under questioning does not phase her in the least. Bit by bit she dredges up the embarrassing facts until finally the leader of the group, Davidi, a war hero is forced to admit his guilt. A general is called in to try to pressure her into dropping the case but it's too late -Davidi, to save face has committed suicide! Other than a brief breakaway for a panting quickie with her superior officer and a couple of bus rides home after work, almost the entire 90 minutes of the film take place in the single room of the title in head to head confrontations, and is filmed in relentless facial close ups most of the way creating an intense claustrophobic space enclosing the mounting drama. This is literally a chamber piece on a small canvas, but a very promising directorial debut by Sharon Bar-Ziv. The film has traveled to many festivals and actress Asia Naifeld, who plays Anna and is in every single scene, was nominated for an Israeli Oscar as best actress in 2012. All of these films were supported by the Israel Film Fund (Keren Kolnoa Israeli) which indicates an open-mindedness and self criticism one could hardly expect from filmmakers on the other side of the fence. Bottom Line: Unflinching self-crutucl hardball and another winner from Israel

It is rare to encounter a film confined (for the most part) to a single room that packs the wallop that this film form Israel delivers. Written and directed with great sophistication by Sharon Bar-Ziv and acted by a very small cast of splendid actors, this is a cinematic experience that shake's the viewer and makes an indelible impression of the many conflicts facing not only the Israelis of the story but of all peoples of global significance.

Anna (Asia Naifeld), whose origins are Russian, is in the Israeli army and is assigned the duty of investigating military/civilian incidents. Her current investigation involves interrogating Nimrod (Guy Kapulnik), an officer who is suspected of having information about a group of Israeli soldiers who brutally beat and unarmed Arab family. Nimrod is sarcastic about Anna's abilities, saying she doesn't understand warfare: his accusations are punctuated with frequent cellphone calls Anna accepts from her mother about household matters. Anna is in an affair with a fellow soldier Eraz (Ohad Hall) who is engaged to be married, but that doesn't stop their have very steamy sexual encounters in the interrogation room (there is one of the most erotic, complete sex scenes in film and all of this is by suggestion only as clothing is present). Eraz wants Anna to stop the interrogation of Nimrod because no killing was done. At the same time Eraz wants Anna to lie about their affair when his fiancé Michaeli (Hilly Israel) confronts him. Anna acquiesces to Eraz demands but pursues Nimrod until Nimrod agrees to bring in his commanding officer Davidi (Udi Persi) who apparently was the perpetrator of the beating incident. The results of Anna's interrogation provide her with the sense of justice that she has won for the victims of the beating, but that successful interrogation brings about a surprise ending to this film that is almost unbearably heartbreaking. While the underlying theme seems bound to Israeli versus Arabs, the issues explored are applicable worldwide - when is the abuse of power justified, what is the difference between covering for an act of adultery and covering for an act of military violence against innocent citizens?

This is an eye-opening view of the Israeli military and the very human problems that exist, but more importantly it is an under the microscope examination of human motivation. The cast is brilliant. Apparently the film was rehearsed for six months and then shot (in perfect cinematographic technique) in 5 days! In a word, it is brilliant!

Grady Harp

'Room 514' blows up in the face of Israel's 68 year occupation of the Palestinians on the West Bank. The narrative is straightforward: a female military interrogator interviews two soldiers from an elite division that has abused civilian Palestinians. Anna is young woman finishing her military service; she finds her last assignment a challenge. She has mind of her own, and sees her mission in the IDF as an upholder to its principles of right and wrong. Her commander and feckless lover Ezer tells her to close the case. He sees in a flash that it will do her future no good if she doesn't go with the flow. But her doesn't know her: she has a strong will and a depth to her moral center, and won't give up her interrogation. Room 514 has a setting that is claustrophobic, dense and conceived to break the will of those interrogated. It has a flatness and a greyness that Anna and Ezer's lovemaking cannot bring out bright colors. She slyly has Nimrud give up his commander Davidi. Davidi is brash and acerbic. His language is menacing and her wears his contempt in the same manner he does his stripes of an commander. Anna is unfazed by his bravado and he cracks and confesses. He kills himself leaving a suicide note. It is his apologia pro sua viata for taking his life: his career is based on sheer violence to keep Palestinians whom he regards as less than human in their place. Davidi cracks on the unremmiting pressure to use terror to keep a people under Zionist control as the Israeli elite steals their land through illegal settlement of Jewish colonists. And it is this open secret that makes Bar Ziv's film exceptional and challenging to Israel's myth that Jews are a people occupying a land without people. As the narrative winds to its end, a major general swaggers into Room 514 threatening Anna for exposing a 'Waffen' bridge he created with the sole purpose of keeping the conquered Palestinians in their place through sheer, unwavering violence. Yet Anna is beyond intimidation as she hands him Davidi's suicide note. We can only surmise that his death puts this elite division in the dock. Exit in a huff the general, Anna sits quietly awaiting her fate as the film ends. In a simple setting, Bar Ziv has indicted Israel's occupation. It never occurs that Israeli violence would not give birth or Palestinian resistance or that Palestinians are people alive and of blood and flesh, not animals, not subhumans. Alas, in the US this film wont get much play, now as the sands of geopolitics are shifting away from Israel and Saudi Arab as the US looks to newer partner to maintain a balance of power and its influence. If anything, 'Room 514' is a good example of Israeli cinema at its height!