"Golda" Review

 

by John Zenoni

The newly-released film ‘Golda’, starring Helen Mirren, is about the late Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, the only woman in that country’s history to hold that leadership position, and it definitely gives a chance for Mirren to shine in this role. The film takes place during the Yom Kippur War of 1973, when Israel was attacked by Egypt and Arab forces, during the holiest time of the year for the country. This put a tremendous amount of stress and frustration on Meir, and we get to see how she struggles with and makes key decisions that will impact her country. She even takes on the United States Secretary of State at that time, Henry Kissinger, in some pivotal scenes that are key to the outcome of the war.

Mirren does look very similar to Meir in the layers of heavy prosthetics, including the swollen legs and shoes Meir was known for, as well as the constant cigarette smoke, as Meir was a known chain smoker. Her performance is one to be recognized, although at times it does seem a little ‘forced’ and over-the-top. While I liked the other actors, this film focuses primarily on Mirren, and while her performance itself is something I enjoyed, the film itself was lacking overall in the excitement/suspense categories. While an interesting film on someone famous in history, not a great one, although I will say the mixing of true film footage in with the film was well done.