Golda

Last night I went to the Broadway to see Golda because I have always been fascinated by the history of the Middle East.  It is incredibly powerful with another brilliant performance from Helen Mirren.  The narrative surrounds the Yom Kippur War between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Syria and Egypt in 1973 with the framing device of the Agranat Comission during which Prime Minister Golda Meir (Mirren) is called upon to explain her controversial decision not to launch a preemptive strike despite receiving intelligence suggesting a coming attack.  While there are strategy meetings with her ministers and generals and some incredibly tense sequences listening to the audio from battle, much of the focus is on how a chain-smoking and stoop-shouldered woman undergoing treatments for lymphoma responds to the crisis.  The constraints imposed on her by her diplomatic position are shown through her complicated relationship with U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (Liev Schreiber), her continuing heath problems are shown through her relationship with her personal assistant Lou Kaddar (Camille Cottin), and her despair over the deaths of so many soldiers is shown through her relationship with her secretary Shir Shapiro (Ellie Piercy) and I think this is very effective at showing the real woman behind the politician.  Mirren is absolutely phenomenal and disappears completely into the role.  I was particularly moved by the scene where she keeps replaying the audio from the devastating battle in her mind and when she must inform her secretary of the death of her son in battle.  I also enjoyed some recurring visual motifs throughout, such as the appearance of birds and the use of the ever present cigarette smoke to represent battle, as well as the dramatic sound design and score.  I really liked this historical drama and highly recommend it.