Bridging the Gap Between Past and Present
A review of Ha'Mishlahat.
The German film review can be found here.
The plane lands. A group of excited students pours out of the airport and boards a coach awaiting them. Finally, they have arrived in Poland. On this school trip, the Israeli adolescents will visit various concentration camps and memorials of the Shoah. Their youthful exuberance is met with the weight of tragic history, as they grapple with the desire to break out of rules, have fun, and enjoy each other's company, while also visiting places steeped in the atrocities of the past.
The film uses hard cuts as a stylistic means to oppose between completely excited young people and the petrified faces of those confronted with the realities of the past. Students embrace and support one another as they process what they have e...