Customer Reviews

The House on Chelouche Street [VHS]

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4 star:		(2)
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2 star:		(1)
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I bought this film in video because I enjoyed it when it first came out nearly 30 years ago. It is true that the subtitles are at times difficult to read, but this is not just about pre-independence Palestine and the coming of age of an adolescent boy; it is the struggle of an Egyptian Jewish family trying to fit into a foreign culture (modern Israel). Egyptian Jews brought with them a rich heritage. Sammi knows several languages, and has a passion for books - he loves to read until late at night - but he isn't allowed to pursue his passion because he and his siblings and widowed mother all live in one room, and his mother is forced to rise before dawn and clean people's homes for a living. Sammi is ashamed that his mother has to take menial jobs to support the family, and he agrees to drop out of school and work in a factory, but he suddenly finds himself caught up in the violent upheaval of exploited workers being organized by the fledgling labor union, the Histadrut. Sammi pretends to be going to work every day, but in reality, the workers are on strike, and he sneaks off to read books. British military police are everywhere, enforcing curfews, and breaking into private homes (using local Arab residents as interpreters) to look for suspected members of the underground defense force. Their lives were very shaky at all times and it is a very interesting film.

It is a touching film of how Israelis were being drafted for the war. People trying to rebuild their lives.

I came upon this film quite by accident and only regret I didn't see it when it was new. Without either scmaltz or cynicism it depicts life in a Tel Aviv neighborhood in the period contemporaneous with Israel's emergence as a state. A firsrate social document it points to ethnic and ideological differences particularly between left and right that continue to clash in present day Israel. The acting is superb, the situations always believable, and the warmth, humor, and song, from Shoshana Damari on the radio to the everyday singing in several languages of the actors, is also much like the Israel I've known and photographed. The confrontations between British soldiers, who invade their homes in the middle of the night to seek out "terrorists" reminds one of the present situation in the territories and, whatever one's politics - and in Israel this is the very air one breathes - on the most basic human level these scenes depict what it really feels like. Just as poignant, toward movie's end and in the face of the violence breaking out as war commences, the movie's middle aged heroine declares that she will not leave and no matter what will not become a refugee. Needless to say it's a firstrate coming of age story for its fifteen year old central character.

A coming-of-age story set in pre-Israel Palestine,The House on Chelouche Street was nominated for the best foreign film in 1973. The focus is on a boy of 15, Sami, who is forced to take work in a machine shop to help support his widowed mother and siblings. The movie follows his transformation from child to man, set against the backdrop of the political violence of the time. The translation is very poorly done, and only some of the dialogue is translated. The white print is sloppily set up against white screens, making it very difficult to read. One gets a sense of the film through watching the actors, not from the dialogue. The movie is not bad, but there are much better movies around in this genre and from this culture.

I'm a Jewish man, and for me the best part of this movie was the lead character's (a 15 year old boy) relationship with his mother. It's the best depiction of the way Jewish mothers treat their sons that I've ever seen. Somehow, it came to be, that the predominant depiction of Jewish mothers is that they are over-involved, over-caring, and very emotional. But that's not how it really is. The mother in this movie is how it is. She's self-centered and fairly cold. She expects, as a matter of course, that her 15 year old son should drop out of school to support her and her family. "A son should take care of a mother and not the other way around!" she screams. That's how most Jewish mothers REALLY think. They think males - of all ages - are there to support them. It's why (for the most part) Jewish males grow up to be very responsible husbands and fathers. But it's also why (for the most part) we don't really like our mothers. This movie nails it on the head.