Director Michael Winterbottom knows how to use the tools of his craft to build a world the audience can enter and, over his long career, has rendered onscreen realities that merge with superb storytelling, across a variety of genres. A few highlights of his work include: “Jude” 1996, “Welcome to Sarajevo” 1997, “Wonderland” 1999, “24 Hour Party People” 2002, “The Road to Guantanamo” 2006, “A Mighty Heart” 2007, “The Killer Inside Me” 2010 and “The Trip” series (starting in 2010 and starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon.)
His latest effort is “Shoshana,” a political thriller/drama that takes place in 1930s-1940s British-run Palestine and is based on real-life events and people. For a little background: Britain gained control of Palestine after World War I and, in 1922, the League of Nations granted a mandate over the territory. The mandate, which aimed to establish a national home for the Jewish people while safeguarding the rights of the existing Arab population, ended on May 14, 1948, with the declaration of the State of Israel. Arab nationalists opposed the mandate, leading to violence and clashes with British authorities.
Shoshana (Irina Starshenbaum) and Tom (Douglas Booth) try to keep their love alive.
The film stars Irina Starshenbaum as Shoshana Borochov, a strong-willed Jewish writer and member of the Haganah underground military organization, who’s romantically involved with a smart, charming, easy-on-the-eyes British police officer named Tom Wilkin (Douglas Booth). Tom reports to Geoffrey Morton (Harry Melling), who becomes increasingly ruthless as they pursue Zionist militant Avraham Stern (Aury Alby). At the same time, Shoshana and Tom’s relationship grows more and more fractious.
No doubt, Winterbottom does an excellent job of transporting the viewer to Tel Aviv (shot in Italy) and creating a mood of tension and uncertainty, thanks to seamless production design, wardrobe, music and other period detail. Though riveting and fast-paced, the movie is sometimes a bit hard to follow.
“Shoshana” doesn’t really belong to its eponymous character (it’s hard to connect with what she’s feeling below the surface), and the love story seems more tacked on than central to the narrative. The script, previously titled “Promised Land” and written by Winterbottom, Laurence Coriat and Paul Viragh, doesn’t draw Shoshana and Tom vividly enough. Because their relationship lacks chemistry, they never sizzle, even during their tempestuous scenes. Without much of an emotional core in “Shoshana,” it’s hard to be moved by the actors’ performances, despite the high-stakes situations the characters find themselves in amid the ominous onset of World War II.
“Shoshana” opens in Los Angeles theaters on July 25.
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