The essence of a quarrel and reconciliation between an elderly couple in Tel Aviv in 1967. Inspired by L'âge de discrétion by Simone de Beauvoir.
Shalom is a young man from a nice, middle-class Tel Aviv family. His parents are keen for him go to university, but all of that doesn’t really factor in with his plans. Shalom drives a rickety, old estate car; he has two women in his life, keeping his companionship and romantic needs met; and spends his time on the road, soul-searching. He chances upon a group of artists and intellectuals (including Amos Keenan and Uri Avnery) who have been arguing about Israel’s socio-political future, discussing war and peace; settlements and land; the rich and the poor, and so on. The only thing everyone seems to be in agreement on is that the future is looking bleak. Shalom then decides to immigrate and head to the US – a decision that takes him nowhere, fast.
The title is a reference to the Book of Isaiah 42:6, “I, the LORD, have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee free, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles.” The film is an episodic, cinematic biography of David Ben-Gurion, from his days as a youth in Poland when he met Herzl in the town of Plonsk, through his move to Palestine/Israel, becoming leader, the days of the Independence War and the establishing of the State of Israel, signing the reparations agreement with Germany, and all the way to the making of this film – in the aftermath of the Six-Day War. Perlov’s film highlights all the key milestones in the leader’s life which it goes about doing in the tradition of the reflexive documentary, through the creator’s subjective and artistic pov. The film goes back and forth between documentary and scripted scenes, black and white and technicolour, and even archival footage colourised in bold, artificial colours.