ISRAEL
THE BIBLE - OLD TESTAMENT
X Genesis: The Creation and The Flood (1994, Ermanno Olmi) TV
In the Beginning (2000) -- from creation to Moses
X The Bible: In the Beginning (1966) -- first 22 Books of Genesis (Adam & Eve, Noah, Tower of Babel, Abraham, Sarah and Isaac)
X The Bible (1966) Italian
Abraham (1994) -- Abraham, the founding patriarch of the Israelites, through his son Isaac (some time between 2000 and 1700 B.C.)
X Abraham Our Patriarch (1933, George Roland)
X Noah's Ark - The Story Of The Deluge (1928, Michael Curtiz)
X Noah's Ark (1999, John Irvin) -- TV
X Sodom and Gomorrah (1963) --
X Sodom and Gomorrah (1922, Michael Curtiz)
Jacob (1994) TV
X Jacob, the Man Who Fought With God (1963)
X Giacobbe ed Esau (Jacob and Esau) (1963) –
X The Story of Jacob and Joseph (1974) TV -- Abraham to Isaac to Jacob to Joseph
Joseph (1995) TV --
X Joseph and His Brethren (1960, Irving Rapper)
X Joseph in the Land of Egypt (1932, George Roland)
X Ten Commandments (1956) -- Charlton Heston as Moses leading the Jews out of Egypt, around 1275 B.C.
X The Ten Commandments (1923, Cecil B. DeMille)
X Moses the Law Giver (1975) --
Moses (1995) --
X Prince of Egypt (1998) -- animated version of the story of Moses
Samson and Delilah (1949) -- Cecile B. DeMille with Victor Mature, Hedy Lamarr, somewhere between 1200 and 1000 B.C.
Samson and Delilah (1984) TV -- Delilah betrayed by evil Sidka, governor of Gaza
Samson and Delilah (1996) TV --
The Story of Ruth (1960) -- grandmother of King David
David and Goliath (1960) -- David kills the giant Philistine
X King David (1985) -- King of Israel (ruler from 1000 -960 B.C.)
David (1997) -- David survives King Saul, adultery and internal divisions in his family to bring his son Solomon to be king after him
X Koning David (1965) – Dutch film about King David
X Saul e David (aka Saul and David) (1964) -- David's life with King Saul
X David and Batsheba (1951) -- King David steals himself a wife
X The Story of David (1976, David Lowell Rich, Alex Segal) TV
X Solomon and Sheba (1959) -- supposed relationship between King Solomon (960-928) & the Queen of Sheba
X Solomon and Sheba (1995) -- Halle Berry as the Queen of Sheba
X Menelik l (2008) – Queen of Sheba, King Solomon and their son, Menelik
La Regina di Saba (Queen of Sheba) (1952) -- Italian black & white that should have been called Rehoboam and Sheba
X Solomon (1997, Roger Young) TV
Giuditta e Oloferne (aka Head of a Tyrant) (1959) -- girl gives herself to cruel Assyrian tyrant who has conquered her city in order to overthrow him
X Cortigiana di Babilonia (Queen of Babylon) (1956) -- Babylonia rebels against the Assyrian empire, 626 B.C.
Jeremiah (1998) TV -- the prophet beginning 628 B.C.
Intolerance (1916) -- first of four stories deals with intolerance in Babylon that leads to its fall to the Persians, 539 B.C.
Esther and the King (1960) -- Esther saves the Jews of 4th c. B.C. Persia
X Esther (1999) -- remake of Esther and the King
X Esther (1985, Amos Gitai)
X One Night With the King (2006, Michael O. Sajbel) -- Esther saves the Jewish nation
X The Thirteenth Day: The Story of Esther (1979) -- ABC one-hour special
X Liken: Esther and the King (2006) – mother tells her daughter about the great Esther
RISE OF CHRISTIANITY Back to Chapter III Back to Contents
Erode il grande (Herod the Great) (1959) -- governor of ancient Judea , 37-04 BC
Salome (1953) -- the dancer and John the Baptist, executed 33 AD
X The Passion of the Christ (2004)
X Jesus of Nazareth (1977) -- crucified 30 AD
X El redentor (The Redeemer) (1959) – life of Jesus
X Golgotha (1935) -- Jesus
X Jesus (1999) --
X Jesus (1979) --
X Jesús, el nino Dios (1971) --
X Jesús, María y José (Jesus, Mary and Joseph) (1972) --
X Karunamayudu (Ocean of Mercy) (1978) – Indian cast in Indian movie about the life of Jesus
X King of Kings (1961) -- Jesus
X Mary Mother of Christ (2010) --
X Mary and Joseph (1979)
X Per amore, solo per amore (For Love, Only for Love) (1993) – Mary and the nativity from Joseph’s point of view
X The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
X The Sword and the Cross (1958) -- story of Mary Magdalene (prostitute or disciple?)
X Mary Magdalene (1993) -- ditto
X Judas (2004) -- the story of the man who betrayed Jesus of Nazareth
X The Revolutionary II (1996) -- Jesus of Nazareth
X Il vangelo secondo Matteo (The Gospel According to St. Matthew) (1964) – Jesus as a Marxist
X Barabbas (1961)
X The Robe (1953)
X Peter and Paul (1981) -- Peter may have been the rock, but it was Paul that spread Christianity to the non-Jewish world
X Life of St. Paul (1938) -- popularizer of Christianity
X Life of St. Paul Series (1949) – ditto
The Da Vinci Code (2006) -- the Catholic church fights and murders to prevent the world from knowing that Jesus was mortal and had actually married Mary Magdalene
X Gli amici di Ges - Maria Maddalena (Mary Magdalene) (2000) –John the Baptist and Mary Magdalene
X Quo Vadis (1951) -- Christian persecution under Emperor Nero
Sign of the Cross (1932) -- Christians in Rome under Emperor Nero (Charles Laughton) are blamed and persecuted for the Great Fire of 64 A.D.
Ben-Hur (1959) -- a proud Jew named Ben-Hur and his boyhood Roman friend Messala become in adulthood bitter enemies.
X Gladiator (2000)
Fabiola (1949) -- love story between a Roman woman and a gladiator and persecution of the Christians
Masada (1981) -- 70 A.D. Jewish Revolt against Roman rule
X San Giovanni - L'apocalisse (The Apocalypse) (2002) -- the apostle St. John tries to save Christianity from Roman Emperor Domitian, 90 AD
ISRAEL and PALESTINE
Ben Gurion (1948-1954):
Exodus (1960) -- establishment of Israel
Kedma (2002) -- follows new immigrants to Israel shortly after the nation's founding
Cast a Giant Shadow (1966) -- US Col. David "Mickey" Marcus goes to late-1940s Israel to reorganize its army
Orde Wingate (1976) -- play-like movie about commander Orde Wingate who became a Zionist during foreign service in Palestine and developed guerrilla tactics used by the Israelis; leads strikes into Burma in WWII
O Jerusalem (2006) -- a Jewish-American is friends with an Arab-Muslim but when British controlled Palestine erupts in war, the two friends find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict
X Alex Holeh Ahavah (Alex is Lovesick) (1986) -- romantic comedy set in the period of Austerity in Israel, 1949-1959
Mose Sharatt (1954-1955):
Ben Gurion (1955-1963):
X Operation Eichmann (1961) -- Israelis capture & execute a Nazi war criminal ($150 for a VHS tape)
Man Who Captured Eichmann (1996) TV -- Nazi war criminal
X Eichmann (2007) -- based upon the final confession of Adolf Eichmann
Levi Eshkol (1963-1969)
The Impossible Spy (1987) -- Israeli spy Eli Cohen performs a valuable espionage service while sacrificing his family and himself in the period before the 1967 Six Days' War
X Matzor (Siege) (1969) -- set during the Six Day War (June 1967), a woman loses her husband and tries to start a new life
Yigal Allon (1969):
Golda Meir (1969-1974):
A Woman Called Golda (1982) -- Israeli leader Golda Meir, prime minister 1969-1974
Munich (2005) -- death of the 1972 Israel Olympic team and the Israeli attempt to kill all those responsible
21 Hours at Munich (1976) -- terrorists capture Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympic Games
Sword of Gideon (1986) -- Mossad team hunts down terrorists involved in the 1972 Munich Olympic massacre of Israeli athletes
Kippur (2000) -- war seen through the perspective of a member of a rescue squad, 1973
Yitzhak Rabin (1974-1977):
Menachem Begin (1977-1983):
Sadat (1983) -- President of Egypt Anwar
Sadat makes war on and then makes peace with Israel
X Ayyam El Sadat (The Days of Sadat) (2001) -- life of Anwar Sadat (currently unavailable)
Lebanon (2009) -- 1982, four young Israeli tank crewmen find themselves in a nightmarish deathtrap
Yitzhak Shamir (1983-1984):
Shimon Peres (1984-1986):
Yitzhak Shamir (1986-1992):
Ha Chaverim Shel Yana (Yana's Friends) (1999) -- Tel Aviv immigrants bond with each other during the Scud attacks of the Gulf War (1990-1991)
Yitzhak Rabin (1992-1995):
Shimon Peres (1995-1996)
Benjamin Netanyahu (1996-1999)
Ehud Barak (1999-2001):
Beaufort (2007) -- Israeli soldiers in the South Lebanon conflict at the Beaufort castle before the Israeli withdrawal in 2000
Ariel Sharon (2001-2006):
Ehurd Olmert (2006-2009):
Benjamin Netanyahu (2009- ?)
Other:
X Ha-Hesder (Time of Favor) (2002) -- Menachem, an Orthodox Army officer living in a West Bank settlement run by Rabbi Meltzer who preaches the need for Jews to rule all of the Holy Land, finds himself torn between duty and faith when he leads an all-Orthodox unit
Gmar Gavi'a (Cup Final) (1991) -- PLO squad in Lebanon takes an Israeli soldier hostage; the Israelis only want to see the world final soccer cup; his captors also love the game
Rana's Wedding (2002) -- Palestinian woman who wants to marry has to go through many obstacles thrown up by the occupation
Wedding in Galilee (1988) -- in order for a Palestinian wedding to take place, they have to invite the occupation military governor
Etz Limon (Lemon Tree) (2009) -- Palestinian woman must fight a powerful Israeli couple to save her lemon tree orchard
Paradise Now (2005) -- two Palestinian buddies consider blowing themselves up in Tel Aviv, Israel
X David and Fatima (2008) -- an Israeli Romeo and a Palestinian Juliet try to survive the prejudice coming from both sides
X Ard al-Salam (Land of Peace) (1957) -- an Egyptian helps Palestinians free their village from Israeli control
X Ici et Ailleurs (Here and Elsewhere) (1974) -- a French family is compared to a Palestinian portrait (currently unavailable)
Yadon ilaheyya (Divine Intervention) (2002) -- a Palestinian man and woman are separated by hostile borders and have to find ways to meet
Private (2004) -- the home of a well-educated Palestinian family is raided by Israeli soldiers imprisoning the family on the ground floor while they take over the top floor as a lookout
X The Promise -- a four-part drama about Londoner Erin who goes to visit her friend in Israel for the summer; she finds her grandfather's old diary & learns disturbing truths about Palestine & the atrocities he witnessed
Free Zone (2005) -- two women, an American and an Israeli cab driver, drive into Jordan in order to retrieve money owed to the cab driver Hanna by a business partner; they are joined by a Palestinian woman, who is part of the family of the business partner, known as the American; they don't really discuss the Israel-Palestine question, focusing more on the matters of the heart (except for the question of where is the money owed to Hanna?); they form an emotional bound between them
Sof Shavua B'Tel Aviv (For my Father) (2008) -- suicide bomber has second thoughts about his mission after meeting some of the Israelis he was about to bomb
Homeland (2008) -- an Israeli man comes to New York City and falls in love with a Palestinian woman; will the politics of division divide the couple
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