Region 1 CBS/Paramount (USA)
NTSC, 1.33:1
199 minutes
Audio: DD 2.0 mono English
Subtitles: none
Extras: promotional featurette
Released: 24 March 2009
A Woman Called Golda is a TV mini-series from the early-1980s starring Ingrid Bergman (in her final filmed performance). The production is a sort of “greatest hits” compilation of moments from Golda Meir’s life, from her childhood days in Czarist Russia and her young adult days in the United States to her emigration to Palestine and her stewardship of Israel as Prime Minister. A Woman Called Golda covers important historical events which are intrinsically interesting, but the narration is the usual pedestrian style favored by docudramas made for American TV audiences.
The story begins with Meir’s visit to her elementary school in Milwaukee. After a brief address, she answers questions from the students. This is terribly convenient for viewers who watched the show because of Ingrid Bergman’s star power but knew little about world affairs, but it’s also highly unrealistic. The students ask questions far beyond their imagination or comprehension; if this really happened in real life, then adults probably drafted the questions for the kids. You know what to expect of the rest of the picture. A question leads to an answer that is then illustrated by flashbacks. Eventually, the Q&A sessions give way to “contemporary” events, as Meir returns to Israel to discuss peace with Anwar Sadat of Egypt.
Part 1 is rather slow, even with the usually excellent Judy Davis playing a young Golda Meir opposite Leonard Nimoy as Meir’s husband. Part 2 takes viewers through a rapid series of noteworthy milestones, such as the creation of separate Jewish and Arab sections in Palestine and the various wars fought in the area between 1948 and 1980. Despite the U.S. government’s decades-long policy of supporting Israel in almost unconditional terms, A Woman Called Golda does attempt to show how numerous Israeli leaders, including Meir, had deep reservations about the international community’s division of land cherished by Jews, Muslims, and Christians alike as well as the exodus of Palestinians from their ancestral homes, which in some ways is analogous to Jews being expelled from other countries.
Note: The back of the DVD cover art states, “This film may be edited from its original network version. Music has been changed for this home entertainment version.” This seems to be a common occurrence with pre-1990s TV programming, with music licensing contracts not anticipating possible future home-video incarnations.
Video:
The 1.33:1 video image looks faded, tired, and worn. Print damage and dust are abundant. Many objects look like they have ghosts, a problem that usually plagues multi-strip Technicolor movies with color strips that have warped and become mis-aligned. Resolution is rather low, with only close-ups of actors’ faces yielding any appreciable sense of detail.
Audio:
Like the Video, the Audio is in a sorry state. The actors’ voices are usually thin and brittle, and you have to crank up the volume to be able to hear them. However, music cues (both diegetic and non-diegetic) are very loud, as are gunfire and explosions during the war-filled second half of Golda Meir’s life. You’ll have to fiddle with the volume controls on a constant basis. Things are not helped by the fact that many of the actors speak with heavy accents, rendering their English line-deliveries very difficult to comprehend.
You’re going to have to rough it without subtitles as the disc only has optional English closed captions, which are accessible only if you’re sending a 480i signal to your TV. If you’re using an HDMI connection like me, then you’re going to have to hunt for spare cables to go the old-fashioned analog way in order to get the closed captions.
Extras:
The only extra is a promotional featurette.
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