Classic Movie Night | David Mamet’s “Homicide” (1991) & The Politics of Zionism

Classic Movie Night | David Mamet’s “Homicide” (1991) & The Politics of Zionism

Tonight’s film is HOMICIDE (1991)

From Wikipedia
Bobby Gold is a homicide detective on the trail of Robert Randolph, a drug-dealer and cop-killer on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List. En route to nab an accomplice of Randolph, Gold and his partner Tim Sullivan happen upon a murder scene: the elderly Jewish owner of a candy store in a ghetto has been gunned down, reportedly for a fortune hidden in her basement. The deceased woman's son, a doctor, uses his clout to have Gold assigned to the case in the belief that Gold, himself Jewish, might be empathetic to his plight. Gold, however, seems to disregard his ethnicity and is irritated about being pulled off a much higher-profile case. Ultimately, though, this is offset by interactions with members of the Jewish community that play on Gold's feelings of inadequacy and inability to fit in

David Mamet is a well-regarded Playwright, Screenwriter & Director who has been behind many classic films like Wag the Dog, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Spanish Prisoner, The Untouchables & House of Games to name but a few…but Homicide (1991) is notable for it’s take on Zionism in law enforcement and political circles. For the record, David Mamet identifies as a Zionist, historically, which makes his ‘perspective’ on this story even more compelling as a discussion point.

The story surrounds a cop named Gold, who was born ‘technically a Jew’ but who doesn’t identify as strongly with his Jewish side. He’s not ashamed to be Jewish. He just doesn’t walk around thinking about it. He’s focused more on being a cop and everything else is secondary.

That is until he’s called in to investigate what he believes to be a ‘false report’ of a shooter by an affluent and influential Jewish family. Observing that Gold is Jewish, they make a special request for him to investigate their case which leads him down a rabbit hole of Deception, Nazis, Zionists & Terrorist Organizations

After the film is over, I’ll get into a larger discussion about the themes of Zionism, Nazism & how secular or Atheist Jews navigate among different Jewish perspectives.

Homicide is both a great action/mystery film but also a worthwhile examination on the themes of Zionism & Loyalty to or Rejection of the Zionist ideology within the Judaic culture…specifically how brutal the retribution can be towards fellow Jews who don’t agree to one ideology or the other. Seeing how a lifelong atheistic Jewish man is thrust into this conundrum of Jewish loyalty is one of the best ways I can think of to discuss the politics of Zionism within the Jewish community as an outsider looking in.

I am frankly, bewildered by what Mamet’s ’true’ feelings are after watching Homicide…I don’t want to give it away because the ending will surprise nearly anyone. If he feels positively about Zionism, it would be difficult to tell by watching this film. I was very surprised to learn about his political ideology after watching it. This is why I feel it’s not only a quality film but also a historically relevant for it’s multifaceted take on Zionism within Law Enforcement, Politics & Culture. It’s surprisingly honest & self-reflective upon the negative aspects of Zionism…something that made me wonder if I interpreted it correctly after reading Mamet’s wiki

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Mamet

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