The Long Way Home (1997)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Mark Jonathan Harris

Writer (WGA):

Mark Jonathan Harris (written by)

Release Date:

19 September 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | History | War

Plot:

The story of the post World War II Jewish refugee situation from liberation to the establishment of the modern state of Israel.

Plot Keywords:

Israel | Jewish | Palestine | Refugee | Europe

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Morgan Freeman	...	Narrator (voice)
Edward Asner	...	George Patton / Immigrant to USA / David Ben-Gurion / Holocaust survivor (voice)
Sean Astin	...	Earl G. Harrison, Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization (voice)
Martin Landau	...	(voice)
Miriam Margolyes	...	(voice)
David Paymer	...	(voice)
Nina Siemaszko	...	(voice)
Helen Slater	...	Narrator (voice)
Michael York	...	(voice)
Richard Amend	...	(voice)
Rick Bandes	...	(voice)
Christo Brock	...	(voice)
Pablo Bryant	...	(voice)
Aaron Cain	...	(voice)
Robert Cait	...	(voice)

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS

Company:

Moriah Films

What a great story...

Now, I will start by saying that I'm biased. I am Jewish AND an Israeli. But in the face of such a well-told story I could not remain unmoved. Obviously I know the story, the story of the Jewish people from the almost complete annihilation in Europe of the early 40's to the creation of a Jewish state in Israel, and from knowing it all your life you think you understand. Well, you DO, but it takes such a well-made documentary, in its very simple way of telling a telling story, to actually FEEL it. I cried at the end. Morgan Freeman's excellent narration, with voices of fine actors and especially with the participation of excellent witness who can tell their story in such an engaging way make this a gripping history lesson. Though made by "our team" Two Jews, one of them being a Rabbi...) it maintains a fair standing in the delicate issues of the Jewish-Arab conflict in Palestine. It tells a human story and when put as it outs the story in perspective it gives the simple unfolding of the historical events an epic depth. One cannot stop and wonder how the same story may look so trivial in a day-to-day life (as it looks to me normally). A movie like this simply makes it clearer. I actually got several insightful observations that were really new to me. Note Clark Clifford, a White House counsel at the time in the Truman administration. He hardly has a voice by now, but he is as vivid in his details as he would be telling the details of one of the most important story of his life. And perhaps it was for him.