The Gatekeepers, 2012.
Directed by Dror Moreh.
Starring Carmi Gillon, Yaakov Peri, Yuval Diskin, Avi Dichter, Ami Ayalon and Avraham Shalom.
SYNOPSIS:
A documentary featuring interviews with all surviving former heads of Shin Bet, the Israeli security agency whose activities and membership are closely held state secrets.
Having little context offered to begin with, The Gatekeepers begins like each and every HBO show – plotting you right into events with little information, with instructions to follow everything attentively. As difficult as this is, it soon eases off as facts and opinions are introduced and explored regularly. Whatever you know or do not know about the history of the Israel/Palestinian conflict, director Dror Moreh unravels the ins and outs of it all to give you an incredibly informed overview of it.
Using the basic documentary format of talking head interviews and footage to form your linear structure, The Gatekeepers is not a unique or groundbreaking piece of work. However, some of the footage shown and the accounts given are eye-opening and frankly shocking. Aerial shots showing ground attacks and photographs rendered through computers to add more dimension and depth to the image are dazzling in their animation of history and narrative incorporation. Next, of course, is the testimony from the former leaders of Shin Bet that aid the film in its ability to compel you. Some ex-staff contradict each other in their memory of events, adding to the tension of a story about a security agency.
Looking at security, there is already an inbuilt drama to it all. That said, combined with the Israel/Palestinian conflict, the drama of The Gatekeepers is intensified tenfold. Avraham Shalom – who was the head of Shin Bet from 1981 to 1986 during the time where two Palestinian prisoners were killed in captivity – brushes off his culpability, yet it’s obvious that the incident has inflicted deep wounds which even now are still very tender. It’s moments like these – seeing a confident and noble former leader overcome with tragedy – that the film seems more than worthy of its Oscar nomination.
The sometimes confusing paradoxes of the seemingly uncontrollable conflict have left their mark on all these stoic, smart and even brave men. Some are willing to admit that perhaps they have behaved immorally and even broke the law while also acknowledging the irony of their cruel treatment of Palestinians as inexcusable behavior for a people as historically mistreated as the Jews. It’s an unquestionably poignant moment when the individual men all express their doubts and even hatred for the political leaders who exploited the horrific conflict for their own means. These six men who were charged with the horrific task of eliminating threats to Israel’s security are oddly some of the most compelling critics of their nation’s treatment of the Palestinians.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Piers McCarthy – Follow me on Twitter.
Originally published August 12, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
