Mohammed Bakri died last week at the age of 72. He was a well-regarded actor of film and theater and a documentary film director. In his memory, I would like to share a few words about him.
Bakri studied at Tel Aviv University during the early 1970s,
at which time he was the only Arab in the theater department. He began acting in the Haifa Theater
ensemble, and since that time, he acted in dozens of theater productions,
films, and a one-man play, which brought him much recognition. The play, adapted for the stage by Bakri
himself, was called The Opsimist (a combination of “the optimist”
and “the pessimist”), based on the literary work by Israeli Arab author, Emile
Habibi. I saw Bakri in this play with my
husband a long time ago, and we both loved it.
Bakri’s first major role on the screen was as the
Palestinian political prisoner in Beyond the Walls (directed by
Uri Barbash, 1984), one of the greatest Israeli films of all time. According to legend, Bakri did not agree with
the ending of the film. In the film’s story,
the warden is trying to break the strike which is being staged by both the
Jewish and the Palestinian prisoners. In
an attempt to bribe Bakri’s character, Issam, he brings his wife and young son,
whom Issam has never seen, to the prison.
The cell door is opened, and Issam peeps out to see his wife and son
waiting for him at the end of the corridor.
His first reaction is to return to the cell. Encouraged, however, by the demanding
clapping of his fellow prisoners and strongly tempted, he tearfully makes his
way down the corridor. On the set, Bakri
insisted the Palestinian prisoner would never break the solidarity of the
strike. So, the ending was
rewritten. And Issam approaches his wife
and tells her to go home. Together with
the leader of the Jewish prisoners (played by Arnon Zadok), he resists the
bribe and demands concessions from the warden.
Bakri appeared as the leader of a Palestine Liberation
Organization (PLO) unit in the award-winning Cup Final (Eran
Riklis, 1991). He also appeared in many international
films, including Hanna K. (Costa Gavras, 1983), Haifa
(by Palestinian filmmaker Rashid Mashrawi, 1996), All That’s Left of You
(Cherien Dabis, 2025).
He is also remembered for his documentary films: Jenin,
Jenin, 1948, and Zahra.
Jenin, Jenin (2002) was highly criticized and
was eventually banned in Israel, as it covered a supposed massacre that Israeli
troops purportedly carried out against the people of the Jenin refugee camp in
the West Bank during the Second Intifada (the uprising against Israel 2000-2005).
The massacre was later proven untrue, but Bakri stood behind his film, and as a
result he lost a great deal of status among members of the Israeli public.
Bakri believed that only by learning about the most painful
chapters in each other’s histories could we understand the pain and suffering
of the other. Thus, he supported
Palestinians learning about the Holocaust and he made an important film, called
1948, about the Nakba, the tragedy that befell the
Palestinian people in 1948 with the establishment of the State of Israel, when hundreds
of thousands became refugees. Both of his documentaries, 1948 (1998)
and Zahra (2009), show a creative and beautiful cinematic
aesthetic. Zahra is about his Aunt Zahra
who lived in the village in the Galilee where he was born, Al-Bina. She lived
through the upheaval of 1948 and mothered ten children.
A documentary film, Not a Beginning, nor an End (Lena Chaplin), about Bakri and his family, portrays the issues of dual identity of a Palestinian living in the state of Israel, issues that are present in Bakri’s life.
Bakri was one of Israel’s greatest film personalities. His
acting, directing, strong presence and strength of character will be sorely
missed.
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