Amos Oz: The Nature of Dreams–Documentary

Amos Oz: The Nature of Dreams–Documentary

A description of the documentary from the TVO Website:

This eloquent and dynamic documentary is based on the autobiographical book A Tale of Love and Darkness. Directors Masha Zur Glozman and Yonathan Zur delve into the persona of Oz, picking up on the energy generated by his elegant response to the friction between the personal and political aspects of his life, they offer a rare window of opportunity to experience the world through the literary gaze of this great Israeli author; a man of whom it has been said, knows Israeli society inside and out, especially since he is an outsider, in a very profound sense, of all worlds. This is a journey that follows in the footsteps of the biographical, political and philosophical issues he has personally encountered and impacted on his life. ,A conflict begins and ends in the hearts and minds of people, not in the hilltops, – Amos Oz

You can watch part of the documentary here:

http://ww3.tvo.org/video/176155/amos-oz-nature-dreams

A review is available here:

http://www.abc.net.au/atthemovies/txt/s2860111.htm

And here is a clip discussing the suicide of Oz’s mother and downfall of Oz’s parents’ marriage:

 

However the most salient quote on Oz’s views on Zionism and the difference between the dream and the actuality comes from the beginning of the documentary:

Israel is a dream come true and as such it is disappointing. It is in the nature of dreams only to remain flawless and rosy and perfect as long as they are dreams.  The moment they are fulfilled they taste slightly sour.  This is true of planting a garden, this is true of writing a novel and this is true of living out a sexual fantasy and it is true of building a nation.  So the taste of disappointment is not in the nature of Israel, it is in the nature of dreams.   –  Amos Oz

Another interesting quote comes near the end of the documentary which I can’t find online so I’ll paraphrase:

There is no way to return to the past before 1948.  There was ethnic cleansing that occurred on both sides.  I wish I [Amos Oz] could control the microphones during any peace talks.  Whenever someone talks about the past, I would cut off their microphone.  – Amos Oz (paraphrased as recollected)

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