Abstract
This article relates to the complex approach of Dina Zvi-Riklis’ film Three Mothers (2006) to immigration, an issue that is central to both the Jewish religion and Israeli identity. While for both, reaching the land of Israel means arriving in the promised land, they are quite dissimilar, in that one is a religious command, while the other is an ideological imperative. Both instruct the individual to opt for the obliteration of his past. However, this system does not apply to the protagonists of Three Mothers, a film which follows the extraordinary trajectory of triplet sisters, born to a rich Jewish family in Alexandria, who are forced to leave Egypt after King Farouk’s abdication and immigrate to Israel. This article will demonstrate that Three Mothers represents an outstanding achievement, because it dares to deal with its protagonists’ longing for the world left behind and the complexity of integrating the past into the present. Following Nicholas Bourriaud’s radicant theory, designating an organism that grows roots and adds new ones as it advances, this article will argue that, although the protagonists of Three Mothers never avow their longing for Egypt, the film’s narrative succeeds in revealing a subversive démarche, through which the sisters succeed in integrating Egypt into their present.
Highlights
This article relates to the complex approach of Dina Zvi-Riklis’ film Three Mothers (2006) to immigration, an issue that is central to both the Jewish religion and Israeli identity
In order to address the issue of immigration in Israeli cinema, one should return to the late 19th century, a time which was a unique mixture of modernistic visions of a better future and a strong romantic aspiration for a return to origins
These were the years of European nationalism, and when Zionism was born, a new ideology that regarded the ingathering of Jewish men and women from all over the world as its highest achievement
Summary
In order to address the issue of immigration in Israeli cinema, one should return to the late 19th century, a time which was a unique mixture of modernistic visions of a better future and a strong romantic aspiration for a return to origins These were the years of European nationalism, and when Zionism was born, a new ideology that regarded the ingathering of Jewish men and women from all over the world as its highest achievement. One can recognize that the Israeli act of immigration was different from any other similar act around the world.2 It was the inevitable result of centuries of religious craving to return to Israel (as expressed in the famous Jewish expression “ year in Jerusalem”), presented to the newcomers as a very special, spiritual act that was to form and reinforce the individual’s inner self. Since it was such an enriching experience, a longing for the world left behind was not legitimated
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