The Blue Lamb
Israel, 2005
70 minutes
Menashe Kadishman, a sculptor, painter, and recipient of the Israel Prize, is a natural film protagonist. A forefather in the modern world, he is a giant in short white pants and delicate white shirts. Half child, half old man, half genius, and half jester.
Kadishman did not hide from the camera. He appears in the film in all his complexity. On the one hand, he is successful, with his works displayed and sold worldwide. On the other hand, he is a Tel Avivian "street dweller" character constantly seeking a means of survival.
The shooting begins at five in the morning. We enter the room where he sleeps surrounded by teddy bears and toys. The contrast between the 73-year-old man and the enveloping toys embodies the essence of Menashe as he awakens. At half-past five, he arrives at Gordon Pool. In the dressing room, he embraces his naked elderly friends, joyfully and shamelessly. At seven, he is in the studio, painting another sheep's head to join the thousands of sheep he has painted throughout his life. Kadishman has dedicated his life and art to changing reality in Israel. He has created a powerful system of Israeli symbols. Here is a reclining deer on the dead Isaac, here is a mother lifting her son to the sky, sheep heads, pecking ravens, dripping colorful symbols that have become famous works of art around the world. But Kadishman is frustrated by his inability to change the reality in which parents sacrifice their children every day in an endless war. Nighttime. Kadishman is defeated, an orphan, yearning for the world of his childhood. He reads a farewell letter to his children, knowing that he must rise in the morning to paint another sheep.
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