Exodus

EXODUS (PG)

D: Otto Preminger 

United Artists (Otto Preminger)

US 🇺🇸 1960

208 mins

Drama/Historical/War

W: Dalton Trumbo [based on the novel by Leon Uris]

DP: Sam Leavitt

Ed: Louis R. Loeffler

Mus: Ernest Gold

PD: Richard Day

Paul Newman (Ari Ben Canaan), Eva Marie Saint (Kitty Fremont), Ralph Richardson (Gen. Sutherland), Peter Lawford (Maj. Caldwell), Lee J. Cobb (Barak Ben Canaan), Sal Mineo (Dov Landau), Jill Haworth (Karen Hansen Clement)

Leon Uris’ epic novel depicting events surrounding the founding of the state of Israel gets the epic treatment from Otto Preminger in this sprawling 208 minute historical drama, mostly told from the perspective of the Jewish settlers at the end of World War II.

The opening act of the film follows the path of Holocaust survivors and Jewish refugees on the island of Cyprus, many with an objective to travel to the British-controlled Palestine, a land where they have historical ties to their religion, though their path is blocked by the British armed forces.  A mutiny and hunger strike transpire aboard a cargo ship, renamed ‘Exodus’ and spearheaded by a rebel from the British Army’s Jewish Brigade.

Also aboard the ship are a widowed American nurse who was volunteering at the refugee camp, a Danish-Jewish teenager who hopes to reunite with her father when they make landfall, and a former Sonderkommando at Auschwitz concentration camp, who plans to join a Zionist militant group.

Though the events of the film don’t exactly have a pro-Zionist stance, they are all shown from a Jewish perspective, framing the British as the enemy.

The performances vary, with Paul Newman & Eva Marie Saint seemingly miscast, but understandably were cast due to their box office clout. The supporting cast, however, are all superb, especially Sal Mineo, who arguably gives the performance of the movie, as well as Jill Haworth, with a fine juvenile performance.

The film is a long one to get through, and is best viewed with an intermission, but it’s an exceptionally well-made piece of work for its time.

7/10