The Big Dig

You can't judge The Big Dig by 21st-century standards of comedy, and certainly not by 21st-century standards of political correctness. A fellow escapes from an insane asylum and merrily upsets the order of things in Tel Aviv. We don't even call them insane asylums any more, and we certainly don't laugh at the patients' behavior. Nor, for that matter, at the accents of minority groups, nor at overly friendly relationships between bosses and secretaries.

But those were different times. Kishon's point was to satirize the bureaucracy, always a timely target, and he recruited an impressive cast of Israeli comedians although his most impressive feat, spoken of with awe to this day, was to realistically recreate a large, well-known Tel Aviv intersection on a movie lot-- and flood it with water. In terms of scale, that makes The Big Dig the Ben Hur of Israeli comedies.

The movie isn't too well integrated-- for example, the reaction shots sometimes seem pasted in-- but the actors know what they're doing and they do it well, notably including Bomba Tzur in a lead role that requires him to be amusing without amusing lines.

This is a harmless, somewhat funny bit of Israeli slapstick, with plenty of people screaming at each other, gesticulating and running around in circles. It is a takeoff on Israeli (and any other)bureaucracy, and, I suppose the hectic life in Tel-Aviv in the late 1960s. Amusing to watch (once) but hardly anything that is going to make Ingmar Bergman or Roman Polanski lose any sleep.

Apart from "Lemon Popsicle" series of films from Israel,there are not so many directors in the history of Israelian cinema who have made successful comedy films.If there is a man who has made enjoyable comedy films it is Iprahim Kishon.As he was primarily a great writer,he was able to infuse his writing talents in his films.It can be said about Iprahim Kishon's film "Te'alat Blaumilch" that its visual as well aesthetic style was completely different from the films made by other comic geniuses like Max Linder,Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. Apart from its highly original idea of a lunatic digging a canal in the middle of a street,this film was famous for its set design which consisted of a replica of a fictitious canal right in the middle of Tel Aviv city.A thing which might irk some feminist viewers is that this is a bit sexist in nature as there are numerous ribald jokes consisting of futile attempts made by office boss to seduce his beautiful secretary. Iprahim Kishon made three great comic films and this film is one of those laugh riots which is surely going to drive you crazy with endless bouts of laughter.

The idea for this film is great because it's so original. However, the execution could have been better, as sometimes the film is handled a bit too broadly--subtle, it wasn't.

A mental patient escapes and soon happens upon a jackhammer. With a weird compulsion to use it, he begins tearing apart a street in Tel Aviv at 5am. And, the man continues jackhammering and disrupting life there non-stop--day and night. It's a nightmare for the residents who appeal to the government to do something. But, because the government is made up of idiot bureaucrats (now that's a stretch), nothing is done. After all, the officials reason, someone must have ordered this work to be done. Much of the film consists of these officials trying desperately to cover their butts and pretty soon they start taking credit for the mess--saying it's all part of a wonderful beautification project. They even order MORE workers to expand the project! However, one lowly official realizes the worker is insane but no one will listen.

It's a clever idea of bureaucracy gone mad--an excellent parody for any developed nation. But, all too often, the film seemed to have acting, direction and music that all worked together to try too hard to make the film kooky. I think a more serious and less slapstick approach would have worked better, as this film has almost a Sherwood Schwartz quality about it (he's the guy responsible for "Gilligan's Island"). Not bad--but it should have been better.

Kishon is amazing. This is jewel in the Israeli satire against bureaucracy, way of life, historical heritage and the 60's in Israel. It is hysterically funny. A must see for every movie loving person. The story is about a madman which starts to dig a hole, and since bureaucracy and political rivals kick in, they take the charge for digging s hole in the most busiest street in Tel Aviv. Of course after everyone does not take the blame for it, after creating a venetian tunnel of of the street, everyone take responsibility for their own "life achievement" Thank you, Kishon, for making this movie!