Dan Toren Movies
Espionage, personal integrity, and political commitment are the main themes running through this French thriller that chronicles a young man's journey from idealism to disillusionment and maturity. The story is set in the 1980's in Tel Aviv and follows the exploits and moral conflicts of Attal, a Jew who left his family in France on his eighteenth birthday to pursue a career as an agent in Israels' Institute for Intelligence, the Mossad. At first, his missions do not bother his conscience; he performs them for the good of Israel. But, as time passes, Attal must face more moral dilemmas as the work becomes more subversive and dishonest. He must ultimately decide whether to follow the his personal ideals, or be part of a system which promote immoral acts in the name of idealism. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yvan Attal, Dan Toren, (more)
- 1989
In this drama, Rafa (Sharon Alexander), an Israeli military policeman, has been sent by headquarters to investigate irregularities in the reporting of the death of an Arab murder suspect. When he gets to the West Bank military camp to investigate, he finds that the Israeli officer the Arab suspect was accused of killing was an old schoolmate of his. And the officer who openly admits killing the suspect for "attempting to escape interrogation" is yet another old school friend. It is clear that the murder suspect was killed by Rafa's friend in order to ensure that justice was personally served for the murder of the Israeli officer, and this action was not only illegal but immoral. On the other hand, Rafa is just as clearly expected to let the whole thing slide, because the offending officer is One Of Us. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sharon Alexander, Alon Aboutboul, (more)
- 1985
Ubiquitous Israeli actress Michal Bat-Adam heads the cast of Atalia. Though fortyish and with a grown daughter, Bat-Adam enters into an affair with an 18-year-old army reject. Others in her kibbutz are put off by her outrageous behavior, but she continues to live her life according to her own whims. Eventually, Bat-Adam's neighbors, urged on by her own daughter, force her to leave. The daughter is played by Gail Ben-Ner, daughter of author Yitzhak Ben-Ner, upon whose novel Atalia was based. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1984
Robert Mitchum plays as U.S. ambassador to Israel whose efforts at reaching a peace agreement with the Palestinians run afoul of the somewhat questionable ambitions of security advisor Rock Hudson. Meanwhile, Mitchum's wife Ellen Burstyn embarks upon an affair with a PLO leader. When this fact comes to Mitchum's attention, he refuses to pay the prescribed "hush money", sparking a deadly chain reaction. You may need a microscope to discern this, but The Ambassador was adapted from Elmore Leonard's crime novel 52 Pick Up. Though a more faithful-to-the-source cinemazation of the Leonard book was lensed in 1986, The Ambassador remains the better of the two versions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Mitchum, Ellen Burstyn, (more)
- 1984
The focus of this uneven feminist drama is Athalia (Michal Bat-Adam), a fortysomething, independent-minded, non-conformist widow who has a forbidden affair with an 18-year-old (Yiptach Katzur) and as a consequence confronts the rejection of her daughter (Gail Ben-Ner) and the kibbutz in which they live. Athalia talks, acts, and dresses as she pleases, so when her affair with the young man becomes known, the kibbutz leaders have the excuse they need to ostracize her. The slow degeneration of the once-idealistic kibbutz, the conformity of her daughter, and the strait-jacket of a conservative view of masculinity provide a backdrop to Athalia's problems. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Bat-Adam, Dan Toren, (more)
- 1983
This fictional treatment of society in an Israeli high school examines young teens who may or may not be prepared to tackle the sexual challenges they now face. In one story, a 17-year old couple have been dating for some time, and when they make a dreaded visit to a gynecologist to find out if the young woman is pregnant, they receive a lecture by the doctor against abortion. In another story, a teen who has been using birth control pills and then takes them in the wrong way needs some instruction on what to do and how not to make mistakes with the pill. Along with these adult lessons, some notice is made of a high-school dropout who joins the army and then is sent to the front. This film is transparently instructional in its purpose, but then it does not propose to be anything else. As a result, some of the acting is also more academic than naturalistic. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dan Toren, Ariela Rabinovitz, (more)
