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RABIN IN HIS OWN WORDS Send This Review to a Friend
The assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995 was a devastating blow to the possibility of peace between Israelis and Palestinians. It was a victory for right-wing extremists filled with hatred for him as a result of his willingness to trade land for peace in the Oslo agreement. It was also the tragic ending to the life of a man who had devoted himself to the well-being of Israel. In the year before his murder he had shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat and former Israeli Prime Minister and President Shimon Peres.
In the compelling documentary “Rabin in His Own Words,” directed by Erez Laufer, we are given the opportunity to get to know Rabin more closely. There are clips of interviews with him, and there is background information to provide the context of his life and career.
Rabin comes across as a person dedicated to his country, whether as former commander of the Israeli defense forces, or as a politician who was locked in battle with right-wingers and religious fanatics who view specific territory as sacred.
He is generally soft-spoken, but also firm in his beliefs as he comments on various issues. We also get a portrait of his personal life as well as the survey of his public life.
Laufer has built the film around, as the title suggests, letting Rabin speak for himself wherever possible. But the director has wisely included clips and information that sheds light on the times in which Rabin was a leader.
This is not a balanced study, but rather an intimate portrait of a heroic figure struck down at a time when his leadership was urgently needed. It gives rise to the question of what would the situation have been had he lived, much as the questions of what would U.S. history have been had John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King not been assassinated.
It is in such a context that Laufer’s film provides an important service. A Menemsha Films release. Reviewed May 6, 2016.
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