Sallah Shabati
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Sallah Shabati'' ( he, סאלח שבתי) is a 1964 Israeli comedy film about the chaos of Israeli immigration and resettlement. This social
satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...
placed the director
Ephraim Kishon Ephraim Kishon (: August 23, 1924 – January 29, 2005) was a Hungarian-born Israeli author, dramatist, screenwriter, and Academy Award, Oscar-nominated film director. He was one of the most widely read contemporary satire, satirists in Israel, ...
and producer
Menahem Golan Menahem Golan ( he, מנחם גולן; May 31, 1929 – August 8, 2014, originally Menachem Globus) was an Israeli film producer, screenwriter, and director. He was best known for co-owning The Cannon Group with his cousin Yoram Globus. Cannon sp ...
among the first Israeli filmmakers to achieve international success. It also introduced actor
Chaim Topol Chaim Topol ( he, חיים טופול; born September 9, 1935), also spelled Haym Topol, mononymously known as Topol, is an Israeli actor, comedian, singer, film producer, author, and illustrator. He is best known for his portrayal of Tevye the ...
(''
Fiddler on the Roof ''Fiddler on the Roof'' is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in the Pale of Settlement of Imperial Russia in or around 1905. It is based on ''Tevye and his Daughters'' (or ''Tevye the ...
'') to audiences worldwide. The protagonist's name, Sallah Shabati, is perhaps a play on the phrase סליחה שבאתי, ''Sliḥa she'bati'', "I apologise for coming". In earlier print versions of Kishon's short stories which were revised for the film, the character was known as Saadia Shabtai.


Plot

The film begins with Sallah Shabati, a
Mizrahi Jewish Mizrahi Jews ( he, יהודי המִזְרָח), also known as ''Mizrahim'' () or ''Mizrachi'' () and alternatively referred to as Oriental Jews or ''Edot HaMizrach'' (, ), are a grouping of Jewish communities comprising those who remained i ...
immigrant, arriving in Israel by plane with his family: very pregnant wife, ancient female relative and seven children. Upon arrival he is taken to live in a ''
ma'abara Ma'abarot ( he, מַעְבָּרוֹת) were immigrant and refugee absorption camps established in Israel in the 1950s, constituting one of the largest public projects planned by the state to implement its sociospatial and housing policies. T ...
'', or transit camp, where he and his family are given a broken-down, one-room shack to live in. The rest of the film follows Sallah's many attempts to earn enough money to purchase an apartment in a nearby new housing development. His money-making schemes are often comical and frequently satirize the political and social stereotypes in Israel at the time. Finally realizing that people are more likely to get what they don't want, he organizes a demonstration against the housing office shouting the slogan: "We don't want the development: we want the ''ma'abara''!" The film ends with residents being forcibly evicted by police and transported to - the new housing complex.


Cast

*
Topol Topol may refer to: Missiles * RT-2PM Topol, a Russian intercontinental ballistic missile in service from 1985 * RT-2PM2 Topol-M, a Russian intercontinental ballistic missile in service from 1997 People * Topol (surname) * Chaim Topol, Israeli a ...
as Sallah Shabati (as Haym Topol) *
Arik Einstein Arieh Lieb "Arik" Einstein ( he, אָרִיק אַייְנְשְׁטֵייְן, ; 3 January 1939 – 26 November 2013) was an Israeli singer, actor, comedian and screenwriter. He was a pioneer of Israeli rock music and was named "the voice of Is ...
as Zigi, the kibbutznik boyfriend of Sallah's eldest daughter *
Geula Nuni Geula Nuni ( he, גאולה נוני; June 9, 1942 – November 10, 2014) was an Israeli actress and singer. Biography Nuni was born in Ramat Gan in a family of three daughters to a Yemeni-Jewish father and an Austrian-Jewish mother. She made her ...
as Habbubah Shabati (as Geula Noni), Sallah's daughter *
Gila Almagor Gila Almagor Agmon ( he, גילה אלמגור אגמון; born Gila Alexandrowitz; July 22, 1939) is an Israeli actress, film star, and author. In Israel, she is known as "queen of the Israeli cinema and theatre". Biography Gila Alexandrowitz (A ...
as Batsheva Ha'Sosialit (social worker) * Albert Cohen * Shraga Friedman as Neuman, the kibbutz secretary (administrator) *
Zaharira Harifai Zaharira Harifai ( he, זהרירה חריפאי; December 12, 1929 – January 2, 2013) was an Israeli film, stage, and television actress and recipient of the Israel Prize in Theater, which she was awarded in 2003. ''The Jerusalem Post'' called ...
as Frieda, a kibbutz supervisor (and the real power) *
Shaike Levi Shaike Levi ( he, שייקה לוי; born December 13, 1939) is an Israeli comedian, singer and actor. He is best known for his role in the Gashash HaHiver (HaGashash HaHiver) comedy trio, which won the Israel Prize in 2000. Biography Yeshayahu ...
as Shimon Shabati, Sallah's son *
Nathan Meisler Nathan or Natan may refer to: People *Nathan (given name), including a list of people and characters with this name *Nathan (surname) * Nathan (prophet), a person in the Hebrew Bible * Nathan (son of David), biblical figure, son of King David a ...
as Mr. Goldstein, Sallah's neighbor and backgammon pal * Esther Greenberg as Sallah's wife * Mordecai Arnon as Mordecai


Themes

''Sallah Shabati'''s irreverent and mocking depiction of core Zionist institutions like the
kibbutz A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...
provoked strong reactions among many filmgoers and critics. "The kibbutzniks in the film resemble bureaucrats and are clearly divided into veterans with managing roles and 'simple' workers, a division which contradicts the myth of Socialist solidarity and collectivist idealism. The kibbutzniks betray total indifference, furthermore, to the miserable conditions of the poor ''
ma'abara Ma'abarot ( he, מַעְבָּרוֹת) were immigrant and refugee absorption camps established in Israel in the 1950s, constituting one of the largest public projects planned by the state to implement its sociospatial and housing policies. T ...
'' next to them."


Critical reception

''Sallah Shabati'' received mixed reviews but achieved unprecedented box office success in Israel, drawing almost 1.3 million spectators. ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' critic
A.H. Weiler Abraham H. Weiler (December 10, 1908 – January 22, 2002) was an American writer and critic best known for being a film critic and motion picture editor for ''The New York Times''. He also served a term as chairman of the New York Film Critics ...
called the film "more educational than hilarious", and said "Sallah Shabbati and his coterie are an unusual, endearing, often colorful lot, but their humor is largely rudimentary." It won the
Hollywood Foreign Press Association The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) is a nonprofit organization of journalists and photographers who report on the Cinema of the United States, entertainment industry activity and interests in the United States for media (newspaper, ...
's
Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...
as
Best Foreign Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...
, and opened and closed the
Berlin Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...
. The film was nominated for a 1964
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
in the category of
Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
, a first for an Israeli production, but it lost the Oscar to the
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
film, ''
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow ''Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow'' ( it, Ieri, oggi, domani) is a 1963 comedy anthology film by Italian director Vittorio De Sica. It stars Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni. The film consists of three short stories about couples in differ ...
''. The film won best actor (Haim Topol) and best screenplay (Ephraim Kishon) in the 1964
San Francisco International Film Festival The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by the San Francisco Film Society, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in in ...
.


See also

*
List of submissions to the 37th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of submissions to the 37th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film. The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film was created in 1956 by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to honour non-English-speaking films ...
*
List of Israeli submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film Israel has submitted films for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film since 1964. Despite its relatively small film-making industry, ten Israeli films have been nominated for the Foreign Language Oscar, placing it in the Top Ten m ...
*
Bourekas film Bourekas films ( he, סרטי בורקס) were a genre of Israeli-made comic melodrama films popular in Israel in the 1960s and 1970s. History '' Haaretz'' film critic Uri Klein describes Bourekas films as a "peculiarly Israeli genre of comic melod ...


References


External links

*
Sallah Shabati, Israeli Movie Classics
{{Ephraim Kishon 1964 films 1964 comedy films 1960s satirical films Films directed by Ephraim Kishon 1960s Hebrew-language films Films about immigration Films about the kibbutz Israeli comedy films Israeli satirical films Films produced by Menahem Golan