Campfire (2004)

The story of one woman's personal battle for acceptance, but also a portrait of a political movement that has forever affected millions of lives in the Middle East.

Director:

Joseph Cedar

Writer:

Joseph Cedar

Stars:

Michaela Eshet, Hani Furstenberg, Moshe Ivgy

8 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michaela Eshet	...	Rachel Gerlik
Hani Furstenberg	...	Tami Gerlik
Moshe Ivgy	...	Yossi
Maya Maron	...	Esti
Assi Dayan	...	Motkeh
Oshri Cohen	...	Rafi
Yehoram Gaon	...	Moshe Weinstock
Yehuda Levi	...	Yoel
Avi Grainik	...	Oded
Idit Teperson	...	Shula (as Edith Teperson)
Itay Turgeman	...	Gozlan
Barak Lizork	...	Yaniv
Danny Zahavi	...	Ilan
Dina Senderson	...	Inbal
Ofer Seker	...	Yair

Storyline

Israeli Rachel Gerlik has been widowed for one year. Despite not ever having loved her husband, she feels she now needs to move on with her life. She plans to sell his car, which has not been touched in that year. She starts dating again, solely on blind dates set up by her friend Shula Kupfer, first with the insecure Yossi Moraly and then with renowned cantor Moshe Weinstock. Most importantly in Rachel's plan is to be accepted into the founding group of a new ideologically-based West Bank settlement yet to be built, the acceptance committee chaired by Shula's husband, Motkeh Kupfer, considered one of the most important figures in religious Zionism. She has many factors working against her in being accepted, most specifically there not being a man in the household. Regardless, Rachel and her family are accepted on a trial basis. Her family consists of two teen-aged daughters, Esti and Tami, both who believe that their mother has lost touch with the realities of their lives, especially...

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Plot Keywords:

west bank | settlement | youth group | widow | israeli | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

As a teenager, many of Cedar's friends moved to Israeli settlements along the West Bank. Although Cedar was part of a religious, Zionist family, his own parents never joined the settlements, which Cedar was disappointed about at that age. Growing up, he felt that his friends were joining a historical movement, and that his own parents weren't adventurous enough to take part.

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Goofs

When Rachel comes home after her meeting with the founding committee, when Tammy has locked herself in her room and Rachel is talking to Esti in the Living Room, the shots of Rachel show her with her hands cupped over the top of a soda pop bottle, but the shots of Esti (from behind Rachel) show Rachel's hands cupped on her knapsack on the table.

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Quotes

[subtitled version]
[first thing in the morning, Rachel walks into Esti's bedroom unannounced while Esti is still asleep]
Rachel Gerlik: Esti, be careful not to walk barefoot here now.
[Rachel drapes a towel over Esti's bedroom door]
Esti Gerlik: [groggily waking up] What?
[using a hammer, Rachel smashes the glass window on Esti's bedroom door]
Esti Gerlik: [now wide awake] What are you doing?
Rachel Gerlik: No one locks doors in my house. You want privacy? Get married.
[Tami, hearing the commotion, walks by]
Rachel Gerlik: [as Rachel sweeps up the broken glass] Tami, be ...
[...]

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Connections

Features Operation Thunderbolt (1977)

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Soundtracks

Blind Date Rag
Written by Jonathan Bar-Giora

User Reviews

Agree with Pro-Musar

I think people either love or hate this movie, and their politics will have an influence, of course.

The movie shows the less than pretty side of the settler movement and the national religious wing -- the sexism, the hostility toward anyone that doesn't fit the exact mold (even if they support the movement politically), the racism.

The heroine who thinks that going off to a settlement in the occupied territories is - surprise, surprise! - shocked to discover that as a woman without a man, getting accepted will be an uphill struggle (they tell her straight out they need men for not only defense, but prayer quorums, as women don't count there). The near rape of the younger daughter is by nationalistic religious boys who are on the outskirts of their own movement because of their dark skin (the very fundamentalist Shas movement is the result of this discrimination within the religious community, but that's another story).

Of course the religious/settlement people will hate this movie. The people responsible for sending it out of the country will probably be called traitors (and I wouldn't be surprised if there are death threats) for showing the warty side of the settlers among themselves, never mind towards the Palestinians.

Gaon is sure a hoot in his role -- by the way, in real life he is rather center left.

Details

Official Sites:

official site [Israel] (Hebrew, English)

Country:

Israel

Language:

Hebrew English

Release Date:

9 September 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

Campfire

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$12,598, 11 September 2005

Gross USA:

$34,835

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$34,835

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinema Post Production Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1