In this interview with HT, director Amos Gitai discusses his latest film about the dangers and brutality of war. It will premiere at the Venice Film Festival next month.
Following the horrors of Hamas’ invasion of Israel on October 7, last year, Amos Gitai started to study and reread literature to find solace in the views of intellectuals. The acclaimed Israeli filmmaker and artist soon sought sanctuary in a book titled Why War? A correspondence between Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud. Between 1931 and 1932, Einstein and Freud exchanged letters in search of solutions to the issue “Why the War?” A correspondence between Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud. Between 1931 and 1932, Einstein and Freud exchanged letters in search of solutions to the issue “Why the War?” Why do people go to battle with one another? More literature surfaced from Gitai’s library, including Three Guineas, a 1938 essay by English writer Virginia Woolf that analyzes the dynamics of power in sexuality, and Regarding the Pain of Others, a 2003 article by American writer Susan Sontag that discusses war imagery. (Also read: Indian artists drive the VR vroom in movie)
All of the works mentioned above have influenced Gitai, the Haifa-born filmmaker of outstanding films such as The Last Day of Yitzhak Rabin, on the killing of the former Israeli prime minister in 1995,and West of the Jordan River, on regular Israeli and Palestinian residents seeking peace, in the creation of Why War, his latest film, which will have its global debut at the Venice Film Festival next month. Gitai, who resides in Paris, speaks with Faizal Khan about Why War, how the events of October 7 and the ongoing war in Gaza inspired his artistic pursuits, and why Einstein and Freud’s letters concerning wars are more pertinent than before.
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What exactly is the point of Why War?
The film Why War is based on an exchange of letters between Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud, which shaped modern discourse on mass human aggression motivated by religion, ethnicity, or nationality. The League of Nations, which existed before the United Nations, invited Einstein in 1931 to select one intellectual to write a letter to anyone on any subject. He decided to correspond with Freud about preventing war. Einstein emphasized the significance of having an impartial judicial authority to resolve conflicts. Freud agreed with this theory, but believed that “it is unlikely that we can suppress mankind’s aggressive tendencies.”
The correspondence concerning war between two of history’s greatest philosophers is as relevant as ever. Inspired by Einstein and Freud’s correspondence nearly a century ago, Why War analyzes the origins of war and seeks an explanation for the cruelty of the wars that exist in our world.
How do you navigate the line between fiction and documentary in Why War?
The film stars Israeli and international actors, including French actor-director Mathieu Amalric (On Tour, The Blue Room), French actress Micha Lescot (Redoubtable, Forever Young), French-Swiss actor Irène Jacob (The Double Life of Veronique), and French actor Jérôme Kircher. (A Very Long Engagement, Café de Flore), with Israeli performers Yael Abecassis (Rabin, the Last Day; A Borrowed Identity) and Keren Mor (Joy, Year Zero). My films, including House (1980), Kadosh (1999), Kippur (2000), and Rabin, the Last Day (2015), are always motivated by our current reality. Once again, I choose to engage in a discussion with the brutal reality that exists in this region (the Middle East) and present it on the world’s greatest cultural platforms. The video ignores iconography and photos of war’s horrors and destruction, which continue to drive wars.
What was the production procedure, including location and filming?
We recorded in French between Israel, Berlin, and Paris.
Could you please detail the research and search for archival materials?
The objective was to create a narrative film without depicting the war. I also drew inspiration from Virginia Woolf’s 1938 essay Three Guineas, in which she analyzes the dynamics of power in sexuality, to which Susan Sontag responded in her 2003 essay Regarding the Pain of Others, which discusses war imagery.
Today, all you have to do is turn on the news to be inundated with the horrific pictures of Hamas raping Israeli women and destroying Palestinian villages in Gaza. It is an emblem that perfectly emphasizes battle. If I be an Israeli citizen and witness what happened to certain ladies on October 7, it is almost logical to consider retaliation for the war. Similarly, if I were a Palestinian and witness my loved ones die as a result of bombings, I will have the same feelings of vengeance and hatred that fuel armed wars.
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How has October 7, 2023, and the war in Gaza affected the production?
When the October 7 tragedy occurred, I wanted to study and reread some works to find solace and comfort in intellectual views. And during this search, the book Why War? The correspondence between Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud was a revelation. And the question that these two great minds grappled with was, “Why the war?” Why do people go to battle with one another?
We are not doomed to conflict and violence; quite the opposite. However, it is true that in some ways, it is the simplest option while also being the worst. When I worked on a prior film about former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination, this was already at the heart of what I was attempting to comprehend. This book, which gathers Einstein and Freud’s communication, continues my research on how to avoid military confrontations and discover peaceful means to reconcile opposing viewpoints. I created a beautiful video based on this astonishing discourse between two bright minds, in which the war is never seen.
You sent Israeli and Palestinian artists to the Berlin feature Festival earlier this year to promote your previous feature, Shikun. What drives your unwavering optimism for peace?
Even though I began with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the film progresses to a more general reflection that might be applied to the war between Russia and Ukraine, as well as what is going on in Sudan. Unfortunately, there is no lack of examples. This is my particular, human burden. I lived alongside ethnic, religious, and political divisions, always striving not to become overwhelmed.
For me, cinema has a civil mission. That’s what I attempt to convey through my cinematography. We live in a world where conversation has gotten increasingly difficult, favouring extreme perspectives, as seen in many parts of the world. So Why War is not a film that seeks to provide a solution, but rather to make us all question ourselves.
We directors, and artists in general, I feel, must not accept divisions. On the eve of October 7, I was aware that we were in a volatile position in Israel, but this did not lessen the anguish for someone like me, who has long worked to bring Israelis and Palestinians together via art. It’s something I’ve been doing for years in my stage productions and films. In Africa, artists were traditionally regarded as healers. To heal the souls. Here’s what I believe art should be about.
