Advocate (2020)
Documentary on injustice in Israel and classic art house from France and Germany.
Advocate (Film Movement)
In 1967, as a law student in Jerusalem, Lea Tsemel volunteered to fight in the Six Day War. She recalls feeling the “wonder and euphoria” of Israel’s victory over Arab armies that threatened the Jewish State’s existence. By the ‘70s euphoria gave way to opposition over Israel’s role as occupying power over the Palestinians. She became her country’s most prominent attorney for Palestinian clients, including people charged with terrorism or violent opposition to the occupation. She was vilified by the right-wing media.
Rachel Leah Jones’ documentary, Advocate, glances back at Tsemel’s history but focuses on her handling of a recent case—a 13-year old boy accused of trying to stab an Israeli. Like any lawyer, she questions state’s evidence, but her larger mission is always clear. Not unlike the situation of minorities in America,
Palestinians are usually treated more harshly than Jews—she believes—in Israeli’s criminal justice system.
Paracelsus (Kino Lorber)
Many great German filmmakers left their homeland ahead of Hitler. G.W. Pabst is the only one who came back. One of the two films he made under the Third Reich, Paracelsus (1943), is an expert piece of work blending humor, drama, romance, history and—yes, political commentary. “Those who speak up will be arrested,” an official snaps when hearing complaints of injustice; mountebanks who don’t like being questioned hold high office. Sly digs at the Nazis?
“2 Films by Claude Sautet”: Les choses de la vie; Cesar et Rosalie (Film Movement)
A crowd gathers at a roadside as Les choses de la vie (1970) opens, gawking at an accident. A reckless driver, weaving and speeding, careened off the road. What follows is a flashback, essentially the driver’s recent life racing through his mind. Choses is paireed on Blu-ray with a second production by Claude Sautet, Cesar et Rosalie (1972); both are mature films (costarring Romy Schneider) that convey as much through gesture and glance as dialogue.
