Te'alat Blaumilch

Apart from "Lemon Popsicle" series of films from Israel,there are not so many directors in the history of Israelian cinema who have made successful comedy films.If there is a man who has made enjoyable comedy films it is Iprahim Kishon.As he was primarily a great writer,he was able to infuse his writing talents in his films.It can be said about Iprahim Kishon's film "Te'alat Blaumilch" that its visual as well aesthetic style was completely different from the films made by other comic geniuses like Max Linder,Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. Apart from its highly original idea of a lunatic digging a canal in the middle of a street,this film was famous for its set design which consisted of a replica of a fictitious canal right in the middle of Tel Aviv city.A thing which might irk some feminist viewers is that this is a bit sexist in nature as there are numerous ribald jokes consisting of futile attempts made by office boss to seduce his beautiful secretary. Iprahim Kishon made three great comic films and this film is one of those laugh riots which is surely going to drive you crazy with endless bouts of laughter.

Kishon is amazing. This is jewel in the Israeli satire against bureaucracy, way of life, historical heritage and the 60's in Israel. It is hysterically funny. A must see for every movie loving person. The story is about a madman which starts to dig a hole, and since bureaucracy and political rivals kick in, they take the charge for digging s hole in the most busiest street in Tel Aviv. Of course after everyone does not take the blame for it, after creating a venetian tunnel of of the street, everyone take responsibility for their own "life achievement" Thank you, Kishon, for making this movie!

You can't judge The Big Dig by 21st-century standards of comedy, and certainly not by 21st-century standards of political correctness. A fellow escapes from an insane asylum and merrily upsets the order of things in Tel Aviv. We don't even call them insane asylums any more, and we certainly don't laugh at the patients' behavior. Nor, for that matter, at the accents of minority groups, nor at overly friendly relationships between bosses and secretaries.

But those were different times. Kishon's point was to satirize the bureaucracy, always a timely target, and he recruited an impressive cast of Israeli comedians although his most impressive feat, spoken of with awe to this day, was to realistically recreate a large, well-known Tel Aviv intersection on a movie lot-- and flood it with water. In terms of scale, that makes The Big Dig the Ben Hur of Israeli comedies.

The movie isn't too well integrated-- for example, the reaction shots sometimes seem pasted in-- but the actors know what they're doing and they do it well, notably including Bomba Tzur in a lead role that requires him to be amusing without amusing lines.

This is a harmless, somewhat funny bit of Israeli slapstick, with plenty of people screaming at each other, gesticulating and running around in circles. It is a takeoff on Israeli (and any other)bureaucracy, and, I suppose the hectic life in Tel-Aviv in the late 1960s. Amusing to watch (once) but hardly anything that is going to make Ingmar Bergman or Roman Polanski lose any sleep.

In a country where any halfway decent local movies can be counted on the fingers of one hand, this comedy is definitely one to watch; in my opinion, one of the funniest, most clever movies ever. Ephraim Kishon, one of Israel's (and Europe's) most popular writers, wrote this movie (originally as a sketch) when the noise from construction work in the street below got on his nerves. Ever the self-centered type, he asked himself whether the construction workers were really there for a reason, or just a bunch of freaks whose only perpose in life is to disturb his sleep.

This simple idea eventually led to a hilarious satire of administration gone berserk. Bomba Tzur plays Blaumilch, a madman who's obsessed with digging. He escapes from an asylum early one morning, steals a pneumatic drill and starts digging up one of Tel-Aviv's busiest streets! Within hours, downtown Tel Aviv is reduced to a gigantic traffic jam, the local residents go insane, and Mr. Blaumilch is having the time of his life. But when the officials of the Tel Aviv municipality get wind of this, no one (including the runty mayor) knows who to give credit for this unexpected project; nearsighted bureaucrats secretly blame each other for it. In the confusion, nobody thinks to check what started the whole thing, except our hero Ziegler, which obviously nobody believes, even when he eventually discovers the truth. Eventually, city hall sends in reinforcements (bulldozers and heavy machinery) and the dig becomes a monstrous excavation, which can only lead to disaster. Or perhaps not... This movie is terrific. Very well directed, shot, scored, cast and acted, by a who's who of Israel's best comic actors of the time. Director Kishon throws in some very clever set-pieces. Excellent 60's atmosphere, too. A winner. Not to be missed.