Bourekas films
Encyclopedia
Bourekas films were a genre of Israel
i-made movies popular in Israel in the 1960s and 1970s.
film critic Uri Klein describes Bourekas films as a "peculiarly Israeli genre of comic melodramas or tearjerkers... based on ethnic stereotypes." They were "home-grown farces and melodramas that provided escapist entertainment during a tense period in Israeli history."
The term is said to have been coined by the Israeli film director
Boaz Davidson
, the creator of several such films, as a play-on-words on the "spaghetti western
" genre, known as such because that particular Western sub-genre was produced in Italy
. Bourekas
is a notable dish from Israeli cuisine
.
and the Ashkenazi Jews
. The hero was usually a Mizrahi Jewish man, almost always poor, canny and with street smarts, who came into conflict with the institutions of the state or figures of Ashkenazi origin - mostly portrayed as rich, conceited, arrogant, cold-hearted and alienated
. In many of these films, actors imitate different Hebrew accents, especially that of Jews originating from Morocco
, Persia and Poland
. They employ slapstick
humour, alternate identities and a combination of comedy
and melodrama
.
In a paper entitled "A Shtetl in Disguise: Israeli Bourekas Films and their Origins in Classical Yiddish Literature," Rami Kimchi claims that the portrayal of Israeli Mizrahi communities in these films bears a strong resemblance to the portrayal of the 19th century East European shtetl by classic Yiddish writers. Kimchi attributes the commercial success of these films to their "hybridity," i.e. they were Israeli/Mizrahi and Diasporic/Ashkenazi at one and the same time, thereby satisfying the political, sociological, and psychological needs of both Mizrahi and Ashkenazi audiences in Israel.He believes eleven films produced between 1964 and 1977 make up the corpus of the genre.
(1974) (a story of a young Mizrahi man who falls in love with an Ashkenazi girl, starring Yehoram Gaon
), Salomonico (1972) and Yi'ihiyeh Tov Salmonico (1975) (with Reuven Bar-Yotam), Ha-Shehuna Shelanu (1968), Ha-Meshahnei'a Ba'am (1973), and Haham Gamliel (1973).
status in Israel.
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i-made movies popular in Israel in the 1960s and 1970s.
History
HaaretzHaaretz
Haaretz is Israel's oldest daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International Herald Tribune. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet...
film critic Uri Klein describes Bourekas films as a "peculiarly Israeli genre of comic melodramas or tearjerkers... based on ethnic stereotypes." They were "home-grown farces and melodramas that provided escapist entertainment during a tense period in Israeli history."
The term is said to have been coined by the Israeli film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
Boaz Davidson
Boaz Davidson
Boaz Davidson is an Israeli film director, producer and screenwriter. He was born in Tel Aviv, British Mandate of Palestine and studied film in London....
, the creator of several such films, as a play-on-words on the "spaghetti western
Spaghetti Western
Spaghetti Western, also known as Italo-Western, is a nickname for a broad sub-genre of Western films that emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's unique and much copied film-making style and international box-office success, so named by American critics because most were produced and...
" genre, known as such because that particular Western sub-genre was produced in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. Bourekas
Börek
Börek is a family of baked or fried filled pastries made of a thin flaky dough known as yufka . It can be filled with cheese, often feta, sirene or kaşar; minced meat, or vegetables...
is a notable dish from Israeli cuisine
Israeli cuisine
Israeli cuisine comprises local dishes by Jews native to Israel and dishes brought to Israel by Jews from the Diaspora. Since before the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, and particularly since the late 1970s, an Israeli Jewish fusion cuisine has developed.Israeli cuisine has adopted,...
.
Themes
The main theme in most Bourekas films was the conflict between ethnic cultures in Israel, in particular between the Mizrahi JewsMizrahi Jews
Mizrahi Jews or Mizrahiyim, , also referred to as Adot HaMizrach are Jews descended from the Jewish communities of the Middle East, North Africa and the Caucasus...
and the Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities along the Rhine in Germany from Alsace in the south to the Rhineland in the north. Ashkenaz is the medieval Hebrew name for this region and thus for Germany...
. The hero was usually a Mizrahi Jewish man, almost always poor, canny and with street smarts, who came into conflict with the institutions of the state or figures of Ashkenazi origin - mostly portrayed as rich, conceited, arrogant, cold-hearted and alienated
Social alienation
The term social alienation has many discipline-specific uses; Roberts notes how even within the social sciences, it “is used to refer both to a personal psychological state and to a type of social relationship”...
. In many of these films, actors imitate different Hebrew accents, especially that of Jews originating from Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, Persia and Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. They employ slapstick
Slapstick
Slapstick is a type of comedy involving exaggerated violence and activities which may exceed the boundaries of common sense.- Origins :The phrase comes from the batacchio or bataccio — called the 'slap stick' in English — a club-like object composed of two wooden slats used in Commedia dell'arte...
humour, alternate identities and a combination of comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
and melodrama
Melodrama
The term melodrama refers to a dramatic work that exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions. It may also refer to the genre which includes such works, or to language, behavior, or events which resemble them...
.
In a paper entitled "A Shtetl in Disguise: Israeli Bourekas Films and their Origins in Classical Yiddish Literature," Rami Kimchi claims that the portrayal of Israeli Mizrahi communities in these films bears a strong resemblance to the portrayal of the 19th century East European shtetl by classic Yiddish writers. Kimchi attributes the commercial success of these films to their "hybridity," i.e. they were Israeli/Mizrahi and Diasporic/Ashkenazi at one and the same time, thereby satisfying the political, sociological, and psychological needs of both Mizrahi and Ashkenazi audiences in Israel.He believes eleven films produced between 1964 and 1977 make up the corpus of the genre.
Actors and directors
Bourekas films were highly successful in Israel during the 1960s and 1970s, but were also criticized for being shallow. Some of the main actors and directors were:- Ze'ev RevachZe'ev RevachZe'ev Revach is an Israeli comedian, movie actor, and director. He is a star of the Israeli movie genre known as bourekas films.-Biography:...
- an actor and director who participated in many popular Bourekas film comedies such as Hagiga B'SnukerHagiga B'SnukerHagiga BaSnuker is a 1975 Israeli cult movie. The movie was directed by Boaz Davidson and stars Israeli comedians Ze'ev Revach, Yehuda Barkan and Yosef Shiloah.- Cast :...
(1975), Charlie Ve'hetziCharlie Ve'hetziCharlie Ve'hetzi is a 1974 Israeli comedy and cult movie. The movie was directed byBoaz Davidson and stars Israeli comedians Yehuda Barkan and Ze'ev Revach.- Cast :...
(1974), Rak Hayom (1976), Gonev Miganav Patoor (1977), Ta'ut Bamispar (1979), Ha-Muvtal Batito (1987), Lo La'alot Yoter (1979), Sapar Nashim (1984), Pa'amaim Buskila (1998), and more. Revach eventually became the person which is most identified with the Bourekas films and continued to create those films until the end of the 1980s. - George Obadiah - a director who created many melodramas which were influenced (and at times copied) from the Turkish cinema. The most prominent of his films are : Ariana (1971), Nurit (1972), Sarit (1974), Na'arat haparvarim (1979), and more. Obadiah created also comedies like Nahtche V'Hageneral (1972), Fishke Bemilu'im (1971) and Koreyim Li Shmil (1973).
- Yehuda BarkanYehuda BarkanYehuda Barkan is an Israeli actor, film producer, film director and screenwriter.- Early life :Barkan was born in Netanya and was initially named Yehuda Ezekiel Berkowitz. In his childhood Barkan studied at the Bialik and ORT in schools in Netanya...
- an actor and director who participated in many Bourekas films such as Lupo (1970) and Lupo B'New York (1976), Katz V'Carasso (1971), Charlie Ve'hetzi (1974), Hagiga B'Snuker (1975), Bo Nefotzetz Million (1977) and more. Barkan also played in the 1980s Abba Ganuv film series and directed them. - Boaz DavidsonBoaz DavidsonBoaz Davidson is an Israeli film director, producer and screenwriter. He was born in Tel Aviv, British Mandate of Palestine and studied film in London....
- a director of many Bourekas film comedies such as Charlie Ve'hetzi (1974), Hagiga B'Snuker (1975), Mishpahat Tzan'ani (1976), and Lupo B'New York (1976). His films Charlie Ve'hetzi and Hagiga B'Snuker had a 'revival' in the 1990s and a status of Israeli cult film status. - Yosef ShiloachYosef ShiloachYosef Shiloach was a Kurdish Jews film actor. Shiloach was considered by many in Israel one of the nation's most beloved actors, mostly thanks to his parts in many Bourekas Films, a series of films made primarily in the 1970s, portraying the life of Sepharadim in an exaggerated comic manner,...
- Played in several Bourekas film comedies, in parallel with a set of dramatic and more serious roles he played in a variety of Hollywood films. A character which is identified with him in particular is "the Persian" - a somewhat sensual grotesque who possesses a strong Persian accent. - Tuvia TzafirTuvia Tzafir- Biography :Tzafir was born in Tel Aviv and was initially named Tuvia Kozlowski. Tzafir grew up in a traditionalist home of Jewish immigrants from Poland who lived in the Florentin neighborhood in the southern part of Tel Aviv. During the early sixties Tzafir got his big breakthrough when he...
- Played in several Bourekas films, particularly in the role of the grotesque "Ashkenazi" character.
Films
Several prominent Bourekas films were KazablanKazablan
Kazablan is an early Israeli Hebrew language play, staged first as a 1954 drama followed by a 1964 screen adaptation, later as a 1966 musical comedy, and still later produced as a 1974 musical comedy film...
(1974) (a story of a young Mizrahi man who falls in love with an Ashkenazi girl, starring Yehoram Gaon
Yehoram Gaon
Yehoram Gaon is a Jewish Israeli singer, actor, director, producer, TV and radio host, and public figure...
), Salomonico (1972) and Yi'ihiyeh Tov Salmonico (1975) (with Reuven Bar-Yotam), Ha-Shehuna Shelanu (1968), Ha-Meshahnei'a Ba'am (1973), and Haham Gamliel (1973).
Demise of the genre
At the end of the 1970s, the popularity of the Bourekas film declined. In the 1980s, Israeli films became more politically-charged and began to address controversial topics. Nowadays many of the Bourekas films have gained cultCult film
A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences...
status in Israel.