REVIEW: ‘Incitement’
Photo: Incitement features Yehuda Nahari Halevi as Yigal Amir. Photo courtesy of Film Forum press site / Provided with permission.
Incitement, the new movie from director Yaron Zilberman, is an endlessly engaging and often difficult look at the lead-up to the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, prime minister of Israel during the historic peace negotiations with the Palestinians in the 1990s. The movie, which is now virtually available due to the COVID-19 pandemic, takes a close look at the motives and motivations of Yigal Amir (an effective Yehuda Nahari Halevi), the young man who eventually took Rabin’s life.
The prime minister’s role in the film is actually pulled from archival footage, which lends the film an eerie documentary atmosphere. When the real-life recordings are not being broadcast, the bulk of the movie follows the Amir character through his studies at law school, his budding relationship with a fellow student, his obsessive following of the news involving the peace negotiations, his interpretation of the Jewish faith and his tracking of Rabin’s every movement. At times, he lets his frustrations and increasingly radical views known to his family and friends (Amir is not a fan of the peace process led by Rabin); other times, he lets the anger boil beneath the surface.
The historic nature of this time in the Middle East is evident throughout the film, which features a screenplay by Zilberman and Ron Leshem. What Rabin was trying to do with Yasser Arafat had the potential to shake up the future for all parties involved. The Oslo Accord, which President Bill Clinton and the Norwegian government influenced as well, produced different reactions amongst Israelis and Palestinians, but for many it was a solid step toward ending the conflict.
Incitement is less interested in detailing the stipulations of the deal that was celebrated by the leaders involved (the Oslo Accord details are largely jettisoned, but check out the powerful play Oslo by J.T. Rogers for more information). Instead, the drama tries to get at the psychological attributes and religious fanaticism exhibited by Amir, which makes the movie an intimate and uncomfortable portrait of an assassin who catapults himself toward violence.
Incitement has met with controversy, and that’s because the subject matter is highly controversial. The movie does not hold back in its depiction of the events, and its attempts to dramatize the personal (and political) background that led to such violence will no doubt cause pain for those who were so hopeful for an enduring peace.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Incitement (2019). Directed by Yaron Zilberman. Written by Zilberman and Ron Leshem. Starring Yehuda Nahari Halevi, Daniella Kertesz, Amitay Yaish Ben Ousilio and Anat Ravnitzki. In Hebrew with English subtitles. Running time: 123 minutes. Rating: 
