''Rock the Casbah'' (
Hebrew: רוק בקסבה) is a 2012
Israeli drama film.
Title
The title is drawn from a punk rock song, "
Rock the Casbah
"Rock the Casbah" is a song by the English punk rock band The Clash, released in 1982. The song was released as the second single from their fifth album, ''Combat Rock''. It reached number eight on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in the US (t ...
", that was wildly popular among young Israelis at the time.
Synopsis
A unit of new recruits sent to patrol
Gaza during the
First Intifada
The First Intifada, or First Palestinian Intifada (also known simply as the intifada or intifadah),The word ''intifada'' () is an Arabic word meaning "uprising". Its strict Arabic transliteration is '. was a sustained series of Palestinian ...
in 1989. A washing machine is deliberately pushed from the roof of a building as the patrol moves past, killing one of the soldiers. The perpetrator cannot be found. Four of the young soldiers are assigned to uncomfortable, boring, surveillance duty atop the roof, interacting with the Arab family that lives in the building.
There is a dual focus lives in fear of being accused of collaborating with the Israeli soldiers, and on the young soldiers: sensitive, clean-cut Tomer (Yon Tumarkin); Haim (Iftach Rave) whose crude complaining about the food and his intestinal distress gives the film some laughs; feisty, hotheaded Aki (Roy Nik) who challenges the group's leader,
marijuana
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...
-smoking Ariel (Yotam Ishay), who will muster out of his mandatory army service if he survives the next few weeks.
Cast
*
Yon Tumarkin
Yon Tumarkin ( he, יון תומרקין; born 22 July 1989) is an Israeli actor and singer, best known for playing Leo in the TV series ''Split''.
Early life
Tumarkin was born and raised in Jaffa, Israel, to a family of Jewish descent. He i ...
as Tomer
*Yotam Ishay as Ariel
*Roy Nik as Aki
*Iftach Rave as Haim
*Henry David as Ilya
*Lavi Zitner as Izac
*Shmulik Chelben as Israel
*Khaula Al Haji-Daibsi as Samira
*Adel Abou Raya as Muchamad
*Or Ben-Melech
*
Angel Bonanni
Angel Bonanni ( he, אנחל בונני; born 7 February 1972) is an Israeli actor and model. He is known for his role as Assassin Deacon Mailer in the series ''Condor'', and as Detective Tommy Gibbs in the series '' Absentia''.
Modeling, film ...
*
Abdallah El Akal
Abdallah El Akal (, he, עבדאללה אל-עקל; born June 13, 1998) is an Arab-Israeli actor, known for his lead role as Fahed in '' Zaytoun'', co-starring alongside American actor Stephen Dorff. El Akal was born in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv- ...
*Vladimir Freedman
*Ofer Ruthenberg
Critical reception
''Rock the Casbah'' won the
Berlin International Film Festival's C.I.C.A.E. award in 2013.
Jordan Hoffman of ''
Film.com
RealNetworks, Inc. is a provider of artificial intelligence and computer vision based products. RealNetworks was a pioneer in Internet streaming software and services. They are based in Seattle, Washington, United States. The company also p ...
'' called the film "worth seeing and discussing" and gave it 7.3 out of 10, noting that it "succinctly expresses just how difficult and intractable the
/nowiki>Israeli–Palestinian conflict">Israeli–Palestinian_conflict.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Israeli–Palestinian conflict">/nowiki>Israeli–Palestinian conflict/nowiki> is", and that "it is essential to encourage films that do not demonize the individuals on either side of the conflict."
'' argued that the film "attempts to offer an even-handed portrait of their confrontation with the Arab population, but ends up as an impressionistic report rather than a full scale dramatic experience", and Alissa Simon of ''
Israeli–Palestinian conflict films
Films about the Israel Defense Forces
Films set in the Gaza Strip
Israeli drama films
Films set in 1989