Shimon Finkel Movies

Maruschka Detmers stars as Hannah Senesh, a real-life Hungarian Jew who became a martyr to the cause of freedom during WW II. Though safely ensconced in Palestine at the outbreak of the war, Hannah volunteers to venture behind enemy lines in Europe on a life-or-death mission. Unfortunately, she is captured, undergoing unspeakable tortures before the Germans are finished with her. The script, based on Hannah's diaries (as edited by Yoel Palgi), surprisingly downplays heroics in favor of sensationalism; the prison scenes could just as well have been lifted from a Linda Blair "babes behind bars" picture. Even so, Detmers is excellent in the title role, while Ellen Burstyn is likewise superb as Hannah's mother. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on John Le Carré's novel by the same name, this story about Charlie (Diane Keaton) a female double agent working between the Palestinians and Israelis, loses some of the excitement and in-depth characterization engendered by the long novel -- mainly because the novel is hard to capture in a two-hour filmed format. But the action itself carries viewers along as Charlie ends up leaving England and her job as an actress in a Brit repertory company to meet Kurtz (Klaus Kinski) in Greece who recruits her as a spy. Charlie later has to handle her own emotions when she gets romantically involved with her Israeli contact (Yorgo Voyagis), though events move her quickly along to a Palestinian military camp near Beirut. Once she has passed herself off as a reliable Palestinian agent and completed her military training at the camp, she goes to Germany to hunt down a Palestinian terrorist (Sami Frey). Filled with a multitude of characters and locations, not to mention camera shots, the intensity of this story is dissipated somewhat by literally and figuratively covering a lot of territory, though the thread of the story itself is never lost. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In an embattled Israel, director and co-author Yaki Yosha (with Yoram Kaniuk), has come up with a successful pacifist film that is not political -- a most unusual accomplishment. The story is based on Kaniuk's book "The Last Jew," and its subject matter would apply to any war-ravaged area of the world, at any time in history. The ex-soldier Boaz (Shraga Harpaz) has just returned from battle, struggling with the guilt of a survivor remembering those who died -- morose and taciturn, he finds it difficult to adjust. One day he runs into an ex-teacher, the father of one of his buddies killed in the war, and the teacher supplicates him to do an "album" of his memories of the dead son. Boaz reluctantly complies, mainly out of consideration for the father's own emotional needs. He is rewarded by the grateful father, and when this simple act gets around, he finds himself doing more albums for people and miserably making money on the activity -- like a vulture feeding off the dead. The people he meets are real, grieving for their losses, and so Boaz finds himself put in an untenable position: he cannot say no, but saying yes has made life that much harder for him. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

When a man is framed for a crime he didn't commit, his socially intimidated lawyer is reluctant to take the case. The barrister finally agrees, but does nothing to help in his defense. Political pressure is exerted to find the man guilty, and the guilty man is blackmailed into really committing a crime when the punishment is of lesser consequence than the first offense with which he is charged. The accused becomes even more determined to prove his innocence and become an accepted member of the social elite. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide