Arquivo

6th October 1973. The Jewish are celebrating the Yom Kippur holiday, but it’s exactly on this date that Egypt and Syria decide to order an attack on Mount Sinai and the Golam Heights, under Israeli possession. The story of what was later to be called the Yom Kippur War is told from the standpoint of two young Israeli soldiers, Weinraub and his friend Ruso. The day starts quietly and the streets are empty due to the holiday, but soon they turn into a seething mass of people and cars. Some try to get information on what’s going on, while others find their way to the battlefield, like the two soldiers. They try to join their platoon, but the chaos is such that they can’t find it. They are instead allocated to an assignment on a helicopter that is supposed to land under fire in the middle of the battleground to rescue the wounded. Seen from such a close view, the war is not at all heroic. Rather, it’s a dirty endeavor of wallowing in blood and slush in a struggle to be alive at the end of the day. The film has a strong autobiographical component, since it is based on the director’s own memories of his participation in the 1973 war. Weinraub, the protagonist’s name, is Gitai’s middle name