Golda is a 2023 British biopic about Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir directed by Guy Nattiv and written by Nicholas Martin, focusing especially on her role in the Yom Kippur War. The film stars Helen Mirren as Meir, also featuring Rami Heuberger as Moshe Dayan, Ohad Knoller as Ariel Sharon, Lior Ashkenazi as David Elazar, and Liev Schreiber as Henry Kissinger.
Following Israel's crushing victory over its Arab opponents in the Six-Day War, the country has grown overconfident even as its opponents prepare for another round. Caught off guard when Egypt and Syria launch an attack during the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, Golda Meir and her government must face seemingly insurmountable odds in Israel's battle for survival, all while her resolve and Israel's capabilities are tested like never before.
This film contains examples of:
- Artistic License – History:
- The movie implies that only Egypt and Syria fought against Israel during the war. While they certainly contributed the most, expeditionary forces from many other Arab countries (and Cuba) also participated in the fighting.
- While the film mentions that the Agranat Commission cleared Golda Meir of blame; they neglect to mention that the blame was placed squarely on David "Dado" Elazar. He was forced to resign as Chief of Staff in 1974 and died a broken man (he was only 50, and he passed from a heart attack) in 1976.
- Better the Devil You Know: Henry Kissinger advises Golda not to wipe out Egypt's trapped Third Army, believing that such a brutal blow would result in Anwar Sadat falling from power and being replaced by a more hardline figure. Golda isn't having it.
- Better to Die than Be Killed: Golda Meir vows that - should all be lost - she will not be taken alive.
- Big Eater: Ariel Sharon, who happily chows down on a big slice of Golda's cake. Subverted with Henry Kissinger, who has to be coaxed into eating the borshcht prepared by Golda's housekeeper.
- Bling of War: Averted. Hard. Even though most of the military we see are very high ranking, they wear the IDF working uniform, which is the same for the Chief of Staff as it is for the lowest ranked recruit: olive-drab trousers and shirt, devoid of rank or unit insignia, with the only decoration being a discreet Tzahal patch above the right breast pocket.
- Deadpan Snarker: Golda Meir's caustic wit is on full display.
- Everybody Smokes: Truth in Television for the time period and the characters; Golda Meir especially was a known chain-smoker, as was Moshe Dayan.
- The Ghost: Hafez al-Assad, President of Syria, is brought up in dialogue multiple times. However, he never appears onscreen, not even in stock footage like Richard Nixon and Anwar Sadat.
- Girl Friday: Lou Kaddar, Golda's beloved personal assistant.
- Greater-Scope Villain: The Soviet Union provides ample support to Israel's enemies in the war, but they never get directly involved. Golda, however, is not shy about sharing her memories of the pogroms she experienced as a girl in Ukraine, intimating that the Soviet Union and Tsarist Russia are not so different.
- The Hero Dies: The film's final scene shows Golda passing away in 1978.
- Historical Beauty Update: The film realistically uglies up Helen Mirren as Golda Meir and Liev Schreiber as Henry Kissinger. Rami Heuberger has an uncanny resemblance to Moshe Dayan, what with the tall, slight build and male-pattern baldness. However, Lior Ashkenazi is definitely handsomer than the real-life David Elazar. And the short, homely Ariel "Arik" Sharon is played by tall, handsome Ohad Knoller in an unkempt wig.
- Mama Bear: Golda demonstrates this magnificently when throws down the ultimatum to Henry Kissinger: either Sadat returns the Israeli prisoners and agrees to peace talks with Israel, or his Third Army will die of thirst and be bombed by the IAF. As she grimly ordered David Elazar earlier in the movie: "You rescue those boys."
- Married to the Job: We never see Golda's family and they're barely mentioned.
- Nuke 'em: Subverted. After seeing the carnage at the Golan Heights, a panicked Moshe Dayan suggests bringing Israel's nuclear arsenal to bear, but Meir refuses.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The normally unflappable Moshe Dayan is a nervous wreck after he comes back from the Golan Heights.
- Snark-to-Snark Combat: Golda and Henry Kissinger. And it is delicious.
- Stress Vomit: After seeing the fighting in the Golan Heights, Moshe Dayan promptly throws up.
- The Topic of Cancer: The film does not shy away from Golda Meir's lymphoma, radiation treatments, or the side effects of those treatments: we see her cough up blood and we see lumps of hair come out as her hair is being washed.
- War Is Hell: For a movie with no actual violent scenes, it hammers home the point quite well.
- Seasoned warrior Moshe Dayan throws up upon seeing the carnage in the Golan Heights.
- Golda Meir walks through the morgue of the hospital to get her radiation treatments. As the war rages on, more and more bodies are seen.
- David "Dado" Elazar is nearly in tears upon hearing the following transmission from the Egyptian front:Soldier: My unit was surrounded! All my crewmembers are gone! Oh, God, I don't want to die, I don't want to die...
