Naked Israel
Ines Moldavsky's powerful documentary NAKED ISRAEL uncovers the brutal reality hidden beneath the IDF's surface, delving into the minds and bodies of its veterans.
Israeli filmmaker and video artist Ines Moldavsky returns to the Pornfilmfestival Berlin with NAKED ISRAEL. The Berlinale Golden Bear winner presents a profound and crushing exploration of the experiences of former IDF soldiers and their trauma.
„Every nation needs an army, but the question is, what the IDF is doing.“
It occasionally happens that documentary films are suddenly and unexpectedly confronted by reality. Exceptional documentary works reveal their strength precisely in such moments, providing an intriguing perspective or an essential accent even under the new circumstances to help interpret the events.
But the incredible brutality with which reality struck on October 7, 2023, reshaping the perspective on the entry in the Pornfilmfestival 2023 program and the latest work by filmmaker and video artist Ines Moldavsky, was entirely unforeseeable: NAKED ISRAEL.
The concept, both in terms of content and visuals, is relatively straightforward here: Ines Moldavsky places her protagonists in front of the camera, poses questions to them from the background, which are occasionally answered by the people in front of the camera, thus forming a conversation.
Men vs. Society
However, the protagonists aren't just sitting in front of the camera; they are completely naked. We don't know their names and backgrounds; at most, we can mentally compile a small list and assign faces and bodies numbers – 1, 2, 3, 4...
Ines Moldavsky doesn't ask random questions. Instead, she delves into the men's relationship with their bodies, identity, sexuality, societal self-positioning, and their socio-political perspectives.
Throughout the work, a highly diverse image of introspective reflections among the men emerges, regardless of their body shape and age group. This was the case at least in Ines Moldavsky's previous work, NAKED AMERICA, which was showcased at the Pornfilmfestival Berlin 2022. But in NAKED ISRAEL, the situation looks significantly different: All of these men are veterans of the Israeli Army (IDF).
Tinder in Palestine
The relationship between men and women in Israel and Palestine, particularly men's connection to the society in which they live, is a recurring theme in Moldavsky's work. In addition to the previously mentioned works, THE MAN BEHIND THE WALL stands out. It is a 28-minute documentary short film in which Moldavsky goes on dates with men who appear on her Tinder in the vicinity. However, these men are only seemingly close as they live on the other side of the Israeli barrier in the West Bank. In 2018, Moldavsky received the Golden Bear for this work as the best short film at the Berlinale.
Let's take a moment to consider the style that Moldavsky has developed in the NAKED series: Talking-head documentaries, where only speaking heads appear on camera, are among the most frequently used and visually unexciting forms in documentary filmmaking. However, NAKED ISRAEL and NAKED AMERICA exude immense allure and effortlessly captivate their audience. What makes Moldavsky's approach so powerful?
First and foremost, of course, is the evident fact that the men are sitting naked in front of the camera. We have time to study their bodies. What do these bodies reveal? What life circumstances have influenced and shaped them? None of these bodies, for instance, appear particularly fit; even the younger men seem somewhat bloated. Our diet undoubtedly influences our bodies, logically. But what, in turn, influences our diet?
The Body as Its Own Narrator
However, these bodies offer us even more insights: it's the gestures, the posture, how nervously or calmly their legs move. How the men deal with the fact that their penis is as visible as their feet or their head. And last but not least, how much time the men sometimes require to respond to Ines Moldavsky's questions.
In contrast to NAKED AMERICA, where Moldavsky broke the hermetic separation between the interrogated subject in front of the camera and the questioning subject behind it, appearing naked in front of the camera herself and encouraging the protagonists to ask their own questions to her, the filmmaker remains behind the camera this time.
Instead, she introduces an additional visual component to her imagery: the men are no longer seated against a neutral black background but in individual surroundings. Sometimes it's their living room, at other times a city park, a rooftop in the city, then a beach or a riverside.
The Body as Betrayer of the Subject
The bodies, the spoken words, and the surroundings interact with each other, painting an extremely nuanced picture.
For instance, when one of the protagonists sits on the rooftop of a residential building, holding a wine glass and recounting the war crimes he was ordered to commit – the shooting of defenseless Palestinian civilians to „protect“ his own unit.
As he speaks, his voice maintains a calm, almost cool tone, but his body betrays him: nervous movements are apparent in this middle-aged man with gray curly hair. His legs seem restless, his hand clings tightly to the small wine glass, and he pours himself white wine repeatedly.
The recurring theme of resorting to orders is a common narrative in the men's testimonies. Of course, we are familiar with such statements; they are prevalent in all armies engaged in combat. It is often nothing less than a doomed attempt to defend the subject from admitting their guilt in the death of an innocent.
Army under the Rule of Law?
Yet, as we soon realize in NAKED ISRAEL, the situation within the IDF is particularly intricate. Here, soldiers appear to be systematically psychologically manipulated and pressured to avoid displaying emotions and to pull the trigger – after all, according to the seemingly highly effective narrative, failing to do so might make them responsible for the demise of their own comrades. The persuasiveness of this narrative is the crux of the matter.
The more we learn about the depths and horrors that these men have experienced and, in some cases, even caused during their service – arbitrary shootings and arrests of civilians, suicides within the ranks, and so forth – the greater the question arises of how something like this can be possible and in what state the IDF as a whole finds itself. After all, it is the army under the rule of law.
NAKED ISRAEL doesn't explicitly tackle these questions. It doesn't interview active military personnel, commanders, or politicians, but rather former soldiers. However, between the lines, Ines Maldovsky skillfully manages to elucidate the complex relationship between Israeli society and its military.
Toxic Symbiosis
Israel, as a nation, was born with the Holocaust in its fresh collective memory and the aim to create a place on Earth where Jews would never again be existentially threatened. This endeavor faced resistance from those who lived on the land that constitutes the present-day state. It is a state that has operated from day one under the looming specter of existential threat, and this reality persists to this day.
The symbiosis between the IDF and Israeli society – it must indeed be described as toxic: Israel's society would be in immediate peril without the military. Conversely, the military apparatus cannot exist without the society that provides it with new conscripts year after year.
Year after year, this apparatus ostensibly molds soldiers and protectors, but in doing so, it also creates an army of emotional wrecks who often bear unspeakable guilt or, at the very least, may have a suicide attempt with their own weapon on their record. "Every nation needs an army, but the question is, what the IDF is doing," one of the protagonists observes, questioning the situation.
A High Price
A grim co-dependency that distorts even those who haven't served, either due to health or religious reasons that exempted them from bearing arms. And those who did serve but were not permitted to fight consider it a disgrace and carry it as a lifelong burden: "I killed no one, fortunately – but we also never fought."
The psychological dynamics that Ines Moldavsky extracts in NAKED ISRAEL are breathtaking and crushing.
The security that Israeli society purchases with this military apparatus comes at an immensely high price, not only concerning their Palestinian neighbors. In medical terms, this price is abbreviated to four letters - PTSD. In reality, this condition results in severe psychological trauma for former soldiers, (domestic) violence, substance abuse, and often, inability to work.
Beyond Military PR
Without the events of October 7, 2023, NAKED ISRAEL would have been an ideal starting point to set in motion a debate about reforming the IDF, not only within Israel. But that is no longer the case. Not after the rampage by the butchers from Gaza.
Once again, the news now reports on Israeli soldiers in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon engaged in combat. Thanks to Ines Moldavsky's NAKED ISRAEL, we now have a very concrete understanding, beyond the military PR, of what this means for the individuals at the front and in uniform – and expressly not only for them.
The perverse aspect of this situation is that, among all the dismal options, the deployment of the IDF is now the least dreadful choice. However, this war, like all of Israel's previous conflicts and wars, will come at a high cost to Israeli society.
NAKED ISRAEL
IL 2022, 66′
Director, Writer, Producer, Camera: Ines Moldavsky
Doc.
(c) Fotos: Ines Moldavsky/PFFB 2023
Editors note: This review was first published in the German language on November 1, 2023. Translated from German with the aid of AI. Minimal adjustments were made to enhance clarity.
filmanzeiger is a Berlin-based blog focusing on cinema and the artform called film, delivering a independent view on moving images in cinema – thoug with a distinct non-interest in products from the commercial distribution-circus. Author Manu Schubert (he/him) usually covers the International Berlin Filmfestival (Berlinale) and the Pornfilmfestival Berlin (PFFB).