Policeman
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Policeman / The Policeman |
| Original title | Ha-shoter |
 | |
| Country of production | Israel |
| original language | Hebrew |
| Publishing year | 2011 |
| length | 105 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Nadav Lapid |
| script | Nadav Lapid |
| production | Itai Tamir |
| camera | Shai Goldman |
| cut | Era Lapid |
| occupation | |
| |
Policeman ( Hebrew original title השוטר, translit. Ha-shoter ) is an Israeli drama film . It is the first film by the Israeli director Nadav Lapid and was released on July 9, 2011 in Israel and on October 25, 2012 in Germany. The film has two storylines that are told one after the other and combine at the end of the film. The first part of the plot focuses on Yaron, a member of an anti-terrorist unit of the Israeli police . The other storyline tells the story of Shira, who plans and carries out the kidnapping of three billionaires as part of a left-wing extremist group. The storylines meet when Yaron's unit storms the hostage hideout and kills the kidnappers. Policeman was broadcast on German television under the title Der Polizist on arte .
action
The first 45 minutes of the film portrays the everyday life of the elite policeman Yaron. At home he provides his heavily pregnant wife with pre-natal massages, outside he spends time with his comrades from the unit. Her life is shaped by the masculinity on display: Yaron does push-ups in the morning, he uses the short ride in the elevator for pull-ups, her greeting rituals consist of rough pats on the shoulder. The fact that Yaron is about to become a father doesn't stop him from flirting with a waitress whom he tries to impress with his gun . Yaron and four other comrades are threatened with charges in court for shooting civilians while arresting an Arab terrorist a few years ago . They decide that Ariel should take all the blame for being unfit to stand trial because of a brain tumor until the incident lapses.
Shira begins with the destruction of her car by a group of punks . Shira watches the incident, but does not intervene. She comes from the upper middle class , but despises her parents' wealth. During their absence, their designer apartment serves as a meeting place for a group of left-wing extremists who want to overthrow the existing world order: it is time for the rich to die. The other activists also belong to the Israeli middle class. The cell buys pistols, practices shooting and formulates a martial arts script that they want to read after the kidnapping of three billionaires. In the course of the plot, Shira has sexual contacts with several men, including in a club, at whose entrance she is asked for weapons. She claims to have a pistol and is allowed to pass. Shortly before the act, Oded, son of a communist and part of the group, confesses his love for her. Shira kisses him, but only loves Nathanael, the leader of her community, but as a leader he is not free for love. Oded's father Michael finds the gun in his son's backpack and demands to be part of the action.
The terrorists manage to sneak into a billionaire wedding. They bring two billionaires, including the bride's father and a billionaire, into their power and injure the wedding photographer on their escape. With their three hostages, they go to a basement room, and the bride insists on accompanying her father. The hostage-takers are demanding that the country's three major television networks send camera teams to read their martial arts scripts and the crimes of the billionaires they accuse of exploiting their workers. Yaron's team is alerted and prepares to rescue the hostages. To do this, they send two photographers to the hostage-takers, who pretend to be newspaper journalists and take pictures of the people in the room. Only Shira is covering her face and cannot be identified by the police. The kidnappers are aware that they will be stormed and will probably not survive, so Shira uses a megaphone to tell the police that they are not their enemies because they too are being oppressed. The police are surprised that their targets are not Arabs, but they approach the operation with routine. One of them makes fun of Shira's slogans, only Yaron seems to be distracted. Meanwhile, in the hostage hiding place, arguments begin between the hostages and their kidnappers, the bride's father insults the activists as spoiled children of the middle class who are despised by the working class , for which he is gagged. Shira argues with the bride and accuses her of being an empty shell with no personality. Michael tries to save his own life and that of his son and to persuade Oded to leave the cellar. Oded then spontaneously shoots the second billionaire and breaks down crying. Shira stands at the door again to speak to the police over the megaphone when the lights go out. Shots ring out, and when the lights come on again, the kidnappers have been shot except for Michael and Oded. A masked policeman stands over each one. The bride's father thanks in a business-like manner for the neat work, while Yaron stands shaken over the Shira he has shot, whose face he is only now seeing.
reception
Uri Klein von Haaretz considers Policeman to be one of the most challenging and interesting films to have been made in Israel in recent years. He is a cold, detached portrait that has been created cleverly and talented and is aware of the historic moment Israel is in. This is where the film differs from other Israeli productions, which appear to Klein to be outdated and detached from their time. Overall, the film, and especially its ending, allows for many interpretations. Klein praises the “excellent moments” and “excellent dialogues” as well as the clear camera work. The taz describes the film as a “consistent debut”, which paints an “inexorable, illusion-free image of a society” that has been committed to Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister for 20 years . Policeman has six out of ten stars in the Internet Movie Database user rating .
Awards
Policeman received the Jury Prize at the Locarno International Film Festival 2011 and three prizes at the Jerusalem Film Festival . In addition to these awards, the film won six other awards at other festivals and was nominated for 14.
Web links
- Policeman in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Official page for the film
Individual evidence
- ↑ Release info on Policeman of the Internet Movie Database , last accessed on March 31, 2015
- ^ The police officer on programm.ard.de , accessed on March 31, 2015
- ↑ Uri Klein: The man who was there. In: www.haaretz.com , October 28, 2011, accessed on March 31, 2015.
- ↑ Jens Müller: Israeli feature film on Arte: Special unit against revolutionaries. In: www.taz.de , March 30, 2015, accessed on March 31, 2015.
- ↑ Internet Movie Database Policeman Awards List , last accessed March 31, 2015