Streets of Yesterday

Dealing in the same emotional territory of personal/political betrayal as The Third Man but in the topical setting of Israel and Berlin this film from 1989 holds up well. Strong performances, good direction and an interesting use of varied locations make for a well-above-average thriller marred slightly by the flashback structure and a slightly muffled ending.

The tensions that destroy relations between Palestinians and Israelis and the forces that drive both sides to acts of political terrorism and personal betrayal underpin the movie.

It won't change minds (nor should it) but it confronts the issues clearly and without prejudice to either side. Probably therefore it will be deeply unpopular with both sides of the political spectrum - which is a measure of its success.

Intelligent foreign intrigue is rare enough on the big screen, which would give this British-Israeli-West German co-production, loosely adapted from a Joseph Conrad story, credit for honorable intentions, if only mixed results. When a young, liberal Israeli fugitive is given refuge in an Arab hostel in East Berlin, the stage is set for a compelling drama of conscience betrayed, probing the division not only between Arab and Jew, but also between left and right wing Israeli politics. Flashbacks reveal a neat little assassination conspiracy designed to sabotage peace talks with the Palestinians, but the scenario soon becomes bogged down in convoluted plotting and spy fiction clichés: endless double-crosses, assorted dead bodies, alienated characters, and so forth.

The screening I attended (on the U.C. Berkeley campus, way back in August of 1989) included the short film 'Sumud (Stick to the Land)', a brief, underground documentary presenting nervous children in a West Bank refugee camp, asked to answer leading questions way beyond their experience.