The Story of The Exodus

To call the over three hour long 1960 film Exodus a modern epic is by no means an understatement. Like Ben-Hur, Fiddler on the Roof, and The Ten Commandments, this film chronicles struggles, triumphs, and tribulations of the Jewish people. However, Exodus has a more modern, recognizable setting in modern times, set in the year 1949 and highlighting the struggle of Jews after the atrocities of World War II and their campaign to create the now independent state of Israel.

The story begins in Cyprus, where Jewish refugees are being kept in detainment camps by the British because the Jews are not safe in Europe. Widowed American nurse Kitty Freemont (Eva Marie Saint), is in Cyprus after her photographer husband was killed in Palestine. She is a guest of General Sutherland (Ralph Richardson), who along with Major Caldwell (Peter Lawford), is dealing with Ari Ben Canaan (Paul Newman), a Palestini Zionist who wants to smuggle as many Jews as he can into Palestine to convince the UN to give them their own homeland. In the mix are Karen Johansson (Jill Haworth) a Jewish concentration camp refugee who Karen wants to adopt, Karen's friend Dov Landau (Sal Mineo) who is a Zionist extremist fighter, Ari's father Barak (Lee J. Cobb) and uncle Akiva (David Opatoshu), and Taha (John Derek), the Muslin friend Ari has always loved and trusted, all of whom provide further complications to the plot.

The film was made based off of the book Exodus by Leon Uris, most of the characters are composites of historical figures or act as metaphors for types of people in the world. The debates about the truthfulness and portrayal of the historical events in both the book and the film have not ceased over time. In fact, the debate seems to grow sharper with the passage of time. This article from reason.com explores how much of the story is history and how much is myth.

The film was made by Otto Preminger, who gave credit to blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, helping end the Hollywood Blacklist. It is an epic from the setting to the effects to the costuming to the words the actors communicate. The film shows the complexity of troubles in the Middle East and the hope that peace will some day come. The idea of what is a belief worth dying for is a recurring theme in the film. It showcases the need to have a home of one's home and the hope of the Jews to build back their lives after the war.

Though the film is not as popular as it once was, there are still many reviews of if you can access to help make up your mind about it. Emanuel Levy's Cinema 24/7 has done this review. Another review can be found here, thanks to nerve.com. Blog The Flicker Project has a review that can be accessed here. The San Francisco Civic Center blog had this to say about the film. For more fun with the film, you can look here for a timeline of how and where film production took place and some great screenshots can be accessed thanks to Slim Warez.com.