Cheap The House on Chelouche Street (Video) (Moshé Mizrahi) Price

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Customer Reviews of The House on Chelouche Street

One of Israel's Classics -get it before VHS becomes obsolete
I bought this film in video because I enjoyed it when it first came out nearly 30 years ago. It is true that the subtitles are at times difficult to read, but this is not just about pre-independence Palestine and the coming of age of an adolescent boy; it is the struggle of an Egyptian Jewish family trying to fit into a foreign culture (modern Israel). Egyptian Jews brought with them a rich heritage. Sammi knows several languages, and has a passion for books - he loves to read until late at night - but he isn't allowed to pursue his passion because he and his siblings and widowed mother all live in one room, and his mother is forced to rise before dawn and clean people's homes for a living. Sammi is ashamed that his mother has to take menial jobs to support the family, and he agrees to drop out of school and work in a factory, but he suddenly finds himself caught up in the violent upheaval of exploited workers being organized by the fledgling labor union, the Histadrut. Sammi pretends to be going to work every day, but in reality, the workers are on strike, and he sneaks off to read books. British military police are everywhere, enforcing curfews, and breaking into private homes (using local Arab residents as interpreters) to look for suspected members of the underground defense force. Their lives were very shaky at all times and it is a very interesting film.

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A Forgettable Film
A coming-of-age story set in pre-Israel Palestine,The House on Chelouche Street was nominated for the best foreign film in 1973. The focus is on a boy of 15, Sami, who is forced to take work in a machine shop to help support his widowed mother and siblings. The movie follows his transformation from child to man, set against the backdrop of the political violence of the time. The translation is very poorly done, and only some of the dialogue is translated. The white print is sloppily set up against white screens, making it very difficult to read. One gets a sense of the film through watching the actors, not from the dialogue. The movie is not bad, but there are much better movies around in this genre and from this culture.