Who's that? Golda Meir or Helen Mirren?
A sharp divergence of opinions between critics (tepid approval 50%) and overwhelming (90%+) of the audiences testifies to the social barriers. While majority of critics represent New York - Los Angeles neocon milieu, the audiences know better. The neocon dogma prohibits describing any military action by the State of Israel in anything other than superlative terms and its military leaders as fractious, vacillating and nervous, i.e. the real people.
Biopic is a very difficult genre and the movie holds its own to the Oppenheimer blockbuster. Helen Mirren is almost unrecognizable but wonderful, portraying Golda Meir's emotions through two inches of makeup by only the eye and lip movement and by gait.
Some omissions -- the absence of Abba Eban, the foreign minister and counterpart to Kissinger -- can be explained by the desire to streamline the story. So is the absence of general Adan, who is credited more for the offensive from the beachhead across the Suez canal than the tireless self-promoter Sharon. Disobedience of Sharon to the High Command is mentioned in passing ("he brought more war correspondents than tanks to the front lines") but is never emphasized.
The movie shows Gen. Elazar, who according to more credible sources was the only commander who did not lose nerve in the face of horrible first days of war, in a more positive way than the Agranat Commission. After all, something good finally came from the billionaire Paul Singer who financed the movie. The Commission basically put all fault on him and the head of military intelligence Eli Zeira supposedly for not convincing Golda Meir to preempt the Arab's strike and, simultaneously, not declaring a total mobilization (the goals, frankly inconsistent with each other). In the 1982 film A Woman Called Golda, Golda Meir's reticence to launch a preemptive strike was explained bluntly: "If we again attack first as in 1967, we would not be able to count on the American aid". But that movie was made long ago. Now, with the American triumphalism, nothing can hint that the US elites and public at the time were less than unanimous in support of Israel.
The work of cameramen who fitted Helen Mirren into diminutive Golda also deserves recognition. At her normal height Helen probably would be taller than most of her generals.
