Yaron Zilberman’s Incitement, Israeli submission for the Academy Award, is a clear voice criticizing radical right-wing trends and mechanisms of violence that strengthen internal divisions between people. Zilberman takes a perspective of the micro-story of Yigal Amir, the killer – and his gradual decline into a radical pit – and shows the events directly preceding the shooting of the former Israeli prime minister, Icchak Rabin, which took place in November 1995.
The Israeli-American artist draws tensions that have been boiling between Israelis and Palestinians in the 90s without hurry. At one level, he does this by portraying two Jewish families – poorer and richer, indigenous and those being the heirs of Zionists returning to their homeland after several thousand years of exile. We also see the student environment and the different colors of patriotism – militant and the more balanced, though very susceptible to manipulation. At the second level appearing in the background we see archival materials of full of emotions speeches of the Prime Minister trying to ease the conflict with the Palestinians and seeking peaceful cooperation with Jasir Arafat.
Zilberman doesn’t just stop at the facts. He wonders where exactly the violence and radicalism of young people comes from (it should be remembered that Israel is now a very right-winged country, so in this sense Incitement is not only a story about past events, but also a warning about Israel’s future). The director’s answer is simple but convincing.
For the creator of A Late Quartet, the seeds of violence that fall on this fertile ground are: orthodox upbringing, living in a world of morbid discipline and a strong emphasis on sexual purity. In fact, the frustration appears in a world where sexuality does not find a normal, healthy outlet – or it is very difficult for one to find it, taking into account the control-focused family structures, priestly-hierarchical society, a decidedly greater presence of men in social life, women withdrawn to homes, etc.
Here we have the story of young Yigal Amir, who found it easier to kill enemies during military service than to get along with a girl. The more failures, the more fierce he gets in his ever more distorted vision of the world. Over time appears ever stronger conviction that – despite everyone’s opinion – he is God’s chosen one and he is right.
The scapegoats in this situation are not only women (who in this world rarely have other roles than the derogatory ones – binding a woman to the home), but – above all – representatives of the liberal option. Those who have already managed to free themselves from the bond of fundamental vision of the world. Icchak Rabin becomes a negative symbol personifying this group for the frustrated young.
Even a viewer without a context of what happened in Israel in 1995 is able to link the facts very quickly. We know exactly what will happen, we are quickly able to guess who the main character is and what the climax will look like. Unfortunately, we are forced to wait for it for a long time.
I guess, of course, that among Israelis the film can cause emotional goosebumps. But even among viewers who live in similar societies or communities after the first hour every next minute of Incitement will slowly take away its effectiveness.
When it comes to the technical layer, Zilberman has done his work well. Same with presenting young incel’s path from frustration to an explosive outbreak. For viewers who perfectly know incels behavior – even from the Internet – this is not enough. You do not need to warn us about a threat that we have long been aware of. The question should rather be: how to open modern societies for others and how to help these poor boys – the incels?
