Every country has its own particularities and specific traits that define it. Ties to history and earlier borders, population, and geographic makeup all influence the present-day state of a nation. Few have as rich and complicated a past as the current country of Israel, with roots in the ancient kingdom of the same name and numerous conquerors and rulers since then. The seventy-seven years of its official – and far from universally accepted – existence of the modern country have been quite turbulent, and the last two years have put it on an unprecedented world stage. The documentary Soul of a Nation interrogates black-and-white notions of its composition with a thorough survey of the many different faces and opinions that make up its residents.
Venezuelan filmmaker Jonathan Jakubowicz turns back the clock to before October 7th, 2023 and the ensuing war that has engulfed Israel and Gaza every day since then to what then seemed like a truly precarious moment for other reasons. The impending government reform of the judiciary and the mass protests it drew offer just a brief hint of the diversity within Israeli society. Interview subjects include a variety of people from different backgrounds, all with separate definitions of what it means to be Israeli and to love their country, which in many cases means advocating for serious change and a renewed commitment to progress that others seek to stop for fear of losing the critical identity and character of the place where they live.
This is the kind of film that will be unsurprising to those with any experience living in or visiting Israel and likely far more startling to those who have no actual firsthand experience getting to know Israelis and have made their own assumptions about who they are. Unfortunately, many among the latter group probably won’t be open to even seeing this film, though perhaps it has a better shot of breaking through with a wider audience because it isn’t explicitly about October 7th and its aftermath and doesn’t present any sort of official government perspective, checking in instead with individuals who share the full spectrum of their opinions. Israel, like everywhere else, is not a monolith, and there’s at least something in what each person interviewed says that should resonate with anyone watching.
There are facets, however, that make Israel unique and don’t resemble anywhere else. Some skeptical viewers may offer up accusations of settler-colonialism as the source of Israel’s founding, but applying labels and differentiators like white supremacy to this region isn’t effective or accurate. One intriguing revelation from subjects featured is that Israelis with darker skin, many of whom fled other Middle Eastern countries, tend to be more politically conservative, while lighter-skinned residents are often more progressive. So much of that comes from lived experience and the cyclical nature of history, which has so often resulted in Jews – who do not make up the entire Israeli population – being forced to leave the places they call home.
Soul of a Nation isn’t interested in lecturing or indoctrinating its audience, instead offering a number of augments without seeking to defend or emphasize any one of them. Examining how the population generally united in the wake of October 7th demonstrates another fascinating component of this unique place, which is still filled with people who have differing perspectives on what should happen next and how Israel should be defined in the future. This is as comprehensive a profile of Israeli culture as possible in under two hours, one that shows both its universality and individuality, two things that will continue to shape its future in quite uncertain times.
Movie Rating: 8/10
