Exodus (1960)

starring		Paul Newman , Ralph Richardson , Lee J Cobb , Peter Lawford , Sal Mineo , Eva Marie Saint
directed by		Otto Preminger

Paul Newman stars in this epic tale of the birth of the state of Israel from director Otto Preminger

With its portentous, biblical title and epic three-hour running time, Otto Preminger's Exodus tells the story of the founding of the state of Israel in the late 1940s as underground leader Ari Ben Canaan (Newman) guides a boat full of Jewish refugees from Cyprus to Palestine in search of the Promised Land.

From the moment that Ernest Gold's Oscar-winning score kicks in over the opening credits, it's obvious that this is a lesson in history Hollywood-style. Headlining the sprawling cast - it includes Eva Marie Saint, Ralph Richardson and Sal Mineo - Newman first leads the refugees on a hunger strike to protest against the British forces in Cyprus who are blocking their escape, then takes up arms in the fight after the partition. Delivering a square-jawed portrait of steely resolve in the face of difficult circumstances, Newman is at his most wooden, furrowing his brow while mouthing rousing speeches about the Zionist cause.

Much like Leo Uris's turgid novel, the screenplay tries to reduce a complex historical moment to an action-packed story of adventure and romance. Unlike the novel, though, Preminger's film is limited by the constraints of running time (the film also exists in an extended 220-minute print). As a result, much of the tale consists of huge chunks of leaden exposition designed to explain the historical situation to the American audience via Eva Marie Saint's naive Yankee nurse.

With a screenplay that shamelessly plays each scene for maximum sentimentality, Exodus also makes some questionable over-simplifications in its attempt to deliver a poignant, one-dimensional piece of cinematic propaganda (the Arabs, for instance, are apparently being manipulated by ex-Nazi villains who take great pride in their "experience of handling Jews"). Blatantly biased, it's an epic whose sentimental, pro-Zionist sweep has little time for nuance, subtlety or dissenting viewpoints.



Verdict
Portentous, bombastic and overlong, Preminger's film sacrifices objectivity for simplicity in its eagerness to justify the Zionist cause. Propaganda masquerading as drama, it makes for a decidedly turgid viewing experience.