Chris Marker - Description of a Struggle / Description d'un combat (1961)

[Thorkell A. Ottarsson]

Filmed while Israel was young as a country and no one knew what was
going to happen. Was this test going to disappear in few years or not?
We see a community of people from all over the world (mostly Russia
and Europe though) trying to live together. We see the birth of a new
nation trying to find a common ground in a very barren country (I have
been to Israel and boy has it changed since then). Chris Marker
focuses on the Jews who have been forced to move from Europe and the
Soviet Union because of what Europe has done to them. He however gives
the Palestinians very little consideration. This film is financed by
Israel which might explain why. That also explains why Israel has
nominated this film to UNESCO's Memory of the World: National
Cinematic Heritage. It is a very precious and interesting window into
a fragile beginning, a birth of a nation.

There is one brilliant scene in this film of a young Arab boy riding a
home made delivery trolley on the street. The camera floats around him
which makes his ride almost balletic.

I should point out that I saw a very bad copy of the film and it was
often hard to read the subtitle. 7/10

Thorkell