In Golda, Helen Mirren stars as Golda Meir, the 4th Prime Minister of Israel and the first woman to lead a government in the Middle East.

The film opens in 1974, with a visibly unwell Golda Meir braving a line of protestors as she testified before a commission that is investigating the events that led to the 19-day Yom Kippur War.  Sitting before the members of the commission, Meir lights a cigarette and, as the smoke forms around her, she speaks with a confidence that belies her physical frailness.  It’s the first of many cigarettes that we will see Golda Meir smoke throughout this film.  While Golda Meir was known for being a chain-smoker in real life, her smoking also plays an important thematic role in the film.  Golda Meir is terminally ill throughout the film, secretly undergoing chemotherapy and continually being told that her high-stress job, her cigarettes, and her coffee are not helping her health.  Golda, however, knows what she has to do to keep herself focuses and to handle the stress of being the leader of a small country that is surrounded by enemies and for her, that means drinking a lot of coffee and smoking a lot of cigarettes.  Much like Israel, she is not going to be told what to do by people who do not understand what she has to deal with on a daily basis.  Throughout the film, Golda willingly sacrifices her physical health for Israel, telling her more trusted aide (Camille Cattin) that the only thing that worries her is developing dementia in her old age.  A leader who cannot think cannot lead.

The majority of the film takes place in 1973, during the 19-day Yom Kippur War.  Israel is caught off-guard by a surprise attack led by Egypt and Syria.  Vastly outnumbered, the IDF struggles to repel the invaders.  While dealing with not only her own bad health but also the personal and ideological conflicts within her government, Meir also reaches out to the U.S. Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger (Liev Schreiber) for help.   Unfortunately, Washington D.C. is more concerned with Watergate than with the latest war in the Middle East and, as Meir quickly deduces, there is also worry that Saudi Arabia will cut off its supply of oil to any country that supports Israel.  Though Meir uses a combination of charm and shrewd political gamesmanship to convince Kissinger to put pressure on the Nixon administration, Meir still finds herself being pressured to accept an internationally-brokered ceasefire rather than pursue a strategy of forcing Egypt into negotiations….

Does this sound familiar?  A vicious surprise attack is launched on Israel during a holy day.  The Israeli Prime Minister, who is loved by some and vilified by others, is accused of not being sufficiently prepared for the attack.  Israel is initially isolated from the world, just to be pressured to accept a ceasefire as soon as it starts to prove its resiliency and humiliate its enemies.  Golda completed production before the October 7th attacks but the film feels like a direct response to them, a reminder that Israel has always had to fight for its existence and that it has always proven itself to be stronger than its enemies realize.

Much like Darkest Hour, another film about a leader who was underestimated, Golda plays out like a dream of history, with the emphasis being on Golda Meir moving from one meeting to another, somehow managing to hold everything together while the world sometimes seem to be falling apart around her.  A good deal of the film’s tension comes from the moments when Golda and her advisors wait to hear whether or not their latest move has been a success.  One of the film’s most harrowing scenes features Golda listening over a radio as a group of Israeli volunteers are wiped out by the invading Egyptians.  It’s a scene that reiterates the human cost of war, regardless of which side wins.  (The film makes good use of historical footage of the war, mixing it with scenes of Golda and her cabinet planning their strategy.  Again, it serves to remind the audience that there are real consequences to every decision.)  Held together by Mirren’s intelligent and authoritative performance, Golda is a film full of details that stick with you.  I’ll always remember the scenes of Golda being led through an underground morgue so that she can secretly be treated for the cancer that is slowly killing her.  With each trip, the morgue become more and more filled with bodies.

Though Mirren’s performance was acclaimed, Golda itself opened to mixed reviews.  I suppose in today’s political atmosphere, that’s to be expected.  After all, Golda is not only a pro-Israel film but it’s also a film that portrays Henry Kissinger as being something other than a one-dimensional Bond villain.  For many of today’s very online film reviewers, all of that is heresy.  At a time when some so-called educated people are driven to a rage at just the sight of posters of abducted Israeli children, Golda‘s reception is not a surprise.  At a time when people are making excuses for terrorists who would attack farmers and concert-goers, a films as otherwise different as You Are So Not Invited To My Bat Mitzvah and Golda can feel like acts of beautiful cultural defiance.

History repeats itself, Golda tells us.  Golda may largely take place in 1973 but, ultimately, it’s a film about 2023 and 2024.