“The Search for Peace” is, paradoxically, mostly about war. Perhaps it is misnamed, or perhaps that is the inevitable subject of any history of the state of Israel.
Actually, the complete title of the full-length documentary, screening at the conclusion of the Contra Costa International Film Festival, is “The Search for Peace, Part I.” A glance at the current headlines makes one wonder if Part II is not still being written.
The 112-minute film is beautifully made and contains a great deal of archival footage, cunningly interwoven into the narrative by screenwriter Richard Trank, who also directed.
It was produced last year by Moriah Films, an affiliate of the Simon Wiesenthal Center. The bulk of the narration is by Hollywood actor Michael Douglas, himself a Jew, with additional participation by such heavy hitters as Anne Bancroft, Edward Asner, Miriam Margolyes, Richard Dreyfuss and Michael York.
But the real star of the show is Israel itself. From the withdrawal of the British troops at the end of the Mandate to the historic signing of a peace treaty between Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat on the White House lawn, the fortunes of the tiny embattled country make for fascinating viewing.
The only criticism that might be made is that less might have been more. In their zeal to paint a complete picture of Israel, the filmmakers include much detail and testimony that is interesting but possibly tangential. The War of Independence is outlined in all its tactical minutia, as are the maneuvers of the Sinai Campaign and Six-Day War. A great deal of time is spent on Golda Meir’s diplomatic missions abroad and practically none on her accomplishments at home.
Details of the Eichmann kidnapping and trial are interesting but seem rather tacked on, not a real part of a whole. It is as if, having uncovered some hitherto unseen footage in one archive or another, the writers and producers felt obligated to put it in. The result is overlong, at moments, tedious.
Adding to the length, but also to the credibility are interviews with Arabs and Palestinians, giving an alternative, often sympathetic, point of view. This is a definite plus, too often missing in pro-Israeli literature and films.
It is not all war. Clips from early performances by Leonard Bernstein and the Israel Philharmonic; live interviews with the late Isaac Stern, a San Francisco native and frequent performer in Israel; and scenes from the burgeoning Israeli theatrical scene are included. Plus the birth of a new opera company headed by a then young, little-known tenor named Placido Domingo.
Relative peace and prosperity in the late ’50s gave an opportunity for expansion of both manufacturing and diplomacy and for the irrigation projects that made the Negev bloom.
Massive immigration movements and the task of absorption of hundreds of thousands of refugees also took place. A fascinating story is that of Shura Cohen — who gives several interviews on the film — a Lebanese woman who dedicated her life to smuggling Jewish children out of Lebanon, beginning with her own, and spent some years in prison as a result.
After an exhaustive detailing of the events of 1967, viewers are rewarded with some wonderful footage of the winning back of the Old City in Jerusalem, the blowing of the shofar and tears and prayer at the Western Wall. It makes you wish you had been there and, by the time “The Search for Peace” finally ends, you may feel as if you had.
The festival is presented by the Contra Costa Jewish Community Center and the Israel Center of the Jewish Federation of the Greater East Bay, with major funding from the Jewish Community Foundation of the federation and the Consulate General of Israel, as well as individuals and corporations. It is co-sponsored by area synagogues and Jewish organizations.