1341 Frames of Love and War

This documentary consists almost entirely of the (still) photographs taken by Micha Bar-Am, famous for his work in the New York Times and for the Magnum organisation. He was born in Germany in 1930, and the family moved to Israel in 1936. Many of the images are of Israel's wars, not just the "action" but also faces of onlookers or people taking part. His best pictures are amazing, and should be studied by connoisseurs of the photographic arts.

Mixed in with this "documentation of history" are family photos. The voice-over consists mainly of family members talking to Micha Bar-Am about his pictures, and what their lives together have been like. The English-language sub-titles are usually easy to read.

What exactly is happening in some of these pictures is not clearly explained, but this documentary is only incidentally a history of Israel since 1957. What really counts is the emotional charge conveyed by what a camera can capture, here mostly in black-and-white.