int

jarc

a new kind of Jew. And he had to
be tough, he had to be a warrior
and, of course, not cry or express
emotion or be weak in any way."
He adds: "On the one hand,
there were wonderful things done
by these new Jews in Israel. We
started a state for these people. On
the other hand, the toll was taken
from these men. They became in
many ways emotional cripples — a
people who could not be husbands
and could not be fathers on a real
deep level."
Fox says most Israelis don't want
to hear about their secret service
being flawed. "Their attitude is,
`These people are protecting us;
they are strong.'
"Just like the Israeli army. You
don't want to think of the army as
being weak, unjust, unfair or bad.
You want to hold onto the images
you grew up with. That way,
[Israelis] feel calmer and safer."
In Israel today, says Fox, all
those emotions are on a more
extreme level. "We are full of fear.
People are full of fear — looking
constantly for ways to ease the
fear. So they say they have a strong
army and a Mossad that makes us
invincible."

Lior Ashkenazi, Carolina Peters and Knut Bergerin "Walk on Water"

Resident Thorn

Fox knows whereof he films. He
served in the Israeli army, studied at
Tel Aviv University's School of Film
and Television and brings to his
work a no-nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is
approach.
He enjoys his role as Israel's resi-
dent thorn in the side: "Some people
say, We understand what you were
trying to do; and we are happy with
what you're doing. And the only way
to deal with these things is to bring

them out of the closet and put them
on the table.'
"Some don't see it that way. They
ask that old Jewish thing: `Why are
you doing this?' My late mother —
whom the film is dedicated to —
used to say, 'Don't wash the dirty
laundry in front of the house.'"
Fox says that going into the film,
he knew he was setting himself up
for attacks from all sides.
"I thought Israelis would be upset

with me for being critical of Israelis.
Americans would be upset with me
for being sympathetic toward gays,
Palestinians and Germans and
maybe say, 'You're letting Germany
off the hook.'"
In fact, however, the film has been
received enthusiastically across the
world. It has done well overseas, par-
ticularly in Germany and France.
. "In Tel Aviv, on my way to the air-
CRAZY on page 44

Up Close And Personal

"Walk On Water director preaches change, tolerance.

MICHAEL FOX

Special to the Jewish News

's an absurd game, throwing char-
cters from different movies togeth-
r, but Israeli director Eytan Fox
gets a chuckle out of it.
"Deal with him," Fox says, imagining
the narrow-minded secret agent in
Walk on Water meeting the gay army
officer from his previous film, Yossi 6-.
Jagger. (In real life, Fox is openly gay.

Ia

He came up with the story for Walk on
Water, and his longtime partner Gal
Uchovsky wrote the screenplay.)
"He's also a warrior," says Fox, as if
he's talking to Water's Mossad man,
Eyal. "He's doing the thing that you
believe in. He's fighting for his country,
but he's gay and he's easygoing about it,
and he's fun and he's frill of life — as
opposed to you."
Fox considers the possibility then
shakes his head. "We've confronted

[Eyal] with something even more com-
plicated: a German grandson of a
Nazi."
Eyal is in his 30s, but he represents a
mindset inherited from previous gener-
ations, which Fox argues is both obso-
lete and counterproductive.
"I think older politicians realize that
the younger people in Israel are not
really with them, with that old way of

UP CLOSE on page 44

We take
Tributes
personally.

Personal Attention
By Mail, Phone, Fax or Online

Personal Greetings
Every Card Uniquely Yours

Personal Service
One Day Processing

Personal Care
For the Men, Women and Children
We Serve Throughout Their Lives

248.538.6611
Fax 248.538.6615

.
wwvv.jarc.org

30301 Northwestern • Suite 100
Farmington Hills, MI 48334

3/24

2005

41

