BEYOND THE WALLS

Israel, 1984, 103 minutes, Colour.
Arnon Zadok, Mohammed Bahkri, Assi Dayan.
Directed by Uri Barbash.

Beyond the Walls is a prison story with all the ingredients seen before: squalid conditions, corrupt and sadistic authorities, a range of inmates that represent expected stereotypes. The prisoners take a stand against oppressor. But what makes the difference and what makes the film, worth seeing is that it is an Israeli production. It has also won many Israeli awards.

It shows Jewish and Arab prisoners together, a microcosm of Middle East tensions. These are presented with some intensity. But Jews and Arabs unite in the face of a common enemy and learn humanity and mutual respect. This was endorsed also by an American Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film. Arab cast members work with Israeli actors.

1. The dramatic impact of the film? Emotional, intellectual? Empathy with the prisoners, their conditions? Audience understanding of the Israeli- Arab situation?

2. The winning of many Israeli awards? Oscar nomination? Acclaim?

3. The tradition of prison films: claustrophobic atmosphere, the focus on the cells, the prison areas, the men confined, the authorities and the prisoners, the mixture of good and bad, corruption amongst wardens and prisoners? The range of types, stereotypes? Situations? The film relying on audience acceptance and awareness of these conventions?

4. The film as Israeli sponsored: the cast, the situations of Jews and Arabs? Emotional implications, political implications? The history of Israeli- Arab conflict? The '80s and new situations and possibilities? The film in showing some kind of collaboration? The dramatic success of the film? Influencing attitudes in reality?

5. The prison and its physical impact, ugliness, darkness? The areas the men, the cells and the crowding, the eating areas, washing and showers, the offices, the rooms, for the television programme? The audience immersed in the physical and psychological environment of imprisonment?

6. The audience entering the prison with Uri, the brutal search, the attitude of the officials, the range of criminals and their crimes, the prisoners being put in the hole, the Jews in their own section, the Arabs to theirs? Uri and his reactions, his being a leader? His place in his cell, relationships with the others, authority, aloofness? The contrast with the Arabs? Uri being framed by authority? His change in attitude? Leadership of the strike?

7. Uri and his daughter, prospects, moral authority, Fittusi and his influence in the cell? Doron and his persecution, being used by the homosexuals? His suicide and note? The encounter with Issam, the growing respect? Their both being in the hole? The strike? The relationship with Issam and the victory?

8. Issam, his background, the Arabs, his crime, leadership-and authority, the situation, the murders in the prison? His memories of his wife and son? Their being brought in to break the strike? His search for the truth? Participation in the strike, its effect? The final decision about his wife? His speeches about Palestinian terrorism?

9. The Chief of Security, his actions, control, Hoffmann and his being a plant, reporting to authorities, his death, the set-up to blame the Arabs? The drugs in the prison? The Chief of Security's servant and his doing the murder? The subsequent investigation?

10. The officials, doing their job, at the television programme, participating in the investigation, response to the strike etc?

11. The range of prisoners - the Arabs with the Jews? Fittusi and his extroversion, sexuality, taunting people, rejected and accepted, his illness during the strike, his decision to stay, his capitulating? His vulgarity? Withdrawing and leaving? The mad prisoner and his bird, his helping, giving the cigarette to Issam? The homosexuals in the cell? The guards, the set-up, the hanging and the note, Nightingale and his ability to sing, the competition, his success, the radios in the cell? The singing of his song and its becoming a symbol for the prisoners? Assaf and his collaboration with the Palestinians, his place in the cell, the taunting of Fittusi, his gradually being accepted? Participation in the strike?

12. Comparisons with the Arabs, their place in an Israeli prison, their traditions, prayer, friction, the deaths?

13. The television programme and the bonding of the prisoners? The fights? The seeing of the television news - especially about the realities of the Israeli-Lebanon? war?

14. The expected prison scenes and the way that they were used - uproar in the dining area, the carrying out of the strike, stubbornness, the illness, the visits of the doctors? The reaction of the guards?

15. Uri's daughter and her visit, attitude towards her father, her needs for Issam's wife as a memory then as a reality?

16. The humane message of unity? The prison as a microcosm of contemporary Israel - and the political implications?