In Search Of Peace – Part One: 1948 – 1967
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: C Film: B
Michael Douglas narrates a terrific program about the
founding of Israel called In Search Of Peace – Part One: 1948 – 1967, in
which the plight of Jewish refugees is followed form the liberation of Nazi
death camps to the necessary founding of Israel. It deals with anti-Semitism all over the world and how brave men
and women fought tooth and nail to make a new home for themselves. The Jewish people who fought to have an
independent Israel and place in the world and the future earned it as much as
anyone ever had. Everyone deserves a
homeland.
Iraqi Jews, people whose existence seems inconceivable
now, are shown as this thorough documentary that uncovers so many little-known
facts, items and rare footage of them to show a side of the story of Jews in
the 20th Century that is overdue to be told. For all the repetition of the obvious, plus
the many (and dangerously) repetitious films on the Holocaust, this is often
revelatory.
The program runs nearly two hours, but is so engrossing
that you loose track of time, a very good sign of its richness. With the “sudden” increase of anti-Semitism
(we would argue that it was always there just waiting to come back out of its
closet and crawl out of the hole it has been hiding in), the timing of this
program could not be better on DVD.
The letterboxed 1.85 X 1 image is good for such a
documentary, though with the plethora of film clips, anamorphic enhancement
might have made the images clearer a bit.
The sound has been issued in a weak Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo and better
Dolby 5.1 remix that is relatively more engaging, though this is not intended
to be very sonic. Surrounds are limited
either way. The only extras are a
stills gallery, trailer, bios and the DVD starts with The Long Way Home
trailer, which cannot be skipped, but is worth seeing. We’ll look at that film when we return.
- Nicholas Sheffo
