This is kind of a Dickensian story, with colorful characters stitched together by a somewhat improbable plot that the actors nonetheless do a great job of selling. The storytelling holds attention as it wavers between comedy and suspense, with some violence that verges on the tastelessly cartoonish. There are intentional anachronisms, particularly in the language, and I find them no less jarring for being intentional. But there are some admirable strokes of originality, such as a reluctant superspy who is held in awe by the espionage establishment but finds it hard to understand why. And an unexpected reveal of who the narrator is.
2 Reviews
a camp in Africa
dromasca21 January 2023
Warning: Spoilers
'Carthago' is the latest in the series produced by Israeli public TV targeting both local and international audiences. The story takes place in a British camp in Africa, where opponents of Great Britain are interned during the Second World War: Nazi sympathizers, Italian prisoners and members of Etzel and Lehi, the Jewish armed resistance organizations in Mandatory Palestine. Against this background unfolds a complex and rather implausible combination of love and espionage stories. However, it seems that credibility was not the main goal of the creators of this series.
The atmosphere of the film is interesting and very well designed. The cinematography is based upon a yellowish filter that creates the vision of a numb jungle in the African heat, where the beige and khaki uniforms are lost in the landscape. The concentration camp atmosphere is not without violence and pressure, but it does not reach the same level of terror as that of the Nazi camps. It may seem strange, but the first comparison term that came to mind was the original 'Indiana Jones' movie. The story and characters combine historical reenactment with a satirical approach, managing to balance partly the tension and violence of the historical period. There is also a love story, strange and impossible in the conditions of the war and the camp. Also described are the internal conflicts between the various Jewish resistance movements against the British colonial system, and the rigid hierarchy marked by class differences in the British army. The main characters are excellently described and some of them will remain in the memory of the viewers: the commander of the camp Colonel Davidson and his beautiful wife Helena, his Irish deputy Major McDonald, the Jewish actor Elija Levi, Jacob Dan the head of the Jewish resistance in the camp, Thomas Edinburgh - an English officer and German spy. The action has rhythm and surprises, although in a season of 12 episodes the scriptwriters could not avoid some repetitions. I almost always have the feeling that these series could be about 2 or 4 episodes shorter. There's also a beautifully drawn comics-style summary at the end of each episode, which adds style and quality. The cast is international, the film in its original version is spoken in English, Hebrew and German. The actors are unknown or little known, and being all talented and well cast, this adds authenticity.
I am very curious whether 'Carthago' will be successful in the market of international television series. The history of Israel, including the events that took place in the decades before the founding of the state and during the world wars, has been little covered recently in cinema or television. "Carthago" has not only one disclaimer but two, the result of the controversies caused by the broadcast of the first series. Their message is 'this is not a documentary but a work of fiction'. It is a message that should not be missed. History is to be learned from other sources.
The atmosphere of the film is interesting and very well designed. The cinematography is based upon a yellowish filter that creates the vision of a numb jungle in the African heat, where the beige and khaki uniforms are lost in the landscape. The concentration camp atmosphere is not without violence and pressure, but it does not reach the same level of terror as that of the Nazi camps. It may seem strange, but the first comparison term that came to mind was the original 'Indiana Jones' movie. The story and characters combine historical reenactment with a satirical approach, managing to balance partly the tension and violence of the historical period. There is also a love story, strange and impossible in the conditions of the war and the camp. Also described are the internal conflicts between the various Jewish resistance movements against the British colonial system, and the rigid hierarchy marked by class differences in the British army. The main characters are excellently described and some of them will remain in the memory of the viewers: the commander of the camp Colonel Davidson and his beautiful wife Helena, his Irish deputy Major McDonald, the Jewish actor Elija Levi, Jacob Dan the head of the Jewish resistance in the camp, Thomas Edinburgh - an English officer and German spy. The action has rhythm and surprises, although in a season of 12 episodes the scriptwriters could not avoid some repetitions. I almost always have the feeling that these series could be about 2 or 4 episodes shorter. There's also a beautifully drawn comics-style summary at the end of each episode, which adds style and quality. The cast is international, the film in its original version is spoken in English, Hebrew and German. The actors are unknown or little known, and being all talented and well cast, this adds authenticity.
I am very curious whether 'Carthago' will be successful in the market of international television series. The history of Israel, including the events that took place in the decades before the founding of the state and during the world wars, has been little covered recently in cinema or television. "Carthago" has not only one disclaimer but two, the result of the controversies caused by the broadcast of the first series. Their message is 'this is not a documentary but a work of fiction'. It is a message that should not be missed. History is to be learned from other sources.
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