Background: When Does This Movie Take Place?

Renen Schorr’s 1987 film Late Summer Blues portrays a group of Israeli teens who have recently
graduated from high school and are about to be drafted into the army. This film takes place in the
summer of 1970, during the War of Attrition (a conflict over land bordering the Suez Canal). All
of these young Israelis experience different conflicts about enlisting. One of them cannot join the
army because he is diabetic. One of them does not want to join the army because he is a pacifist.
Another is trying to decide whether to join an elite unit like his older brothers or the (less
prestigious) army band like his new girlfriend. A fourth Israeli teenager is very excited to
become a paratrooper, but he is tragically killed in training. As a result of his death, his friends
create a unique musical play as a form of political protest and perform it at their high school
graduation. (Think Hair.) This film was very popular in Israel, likely because it reflected the
experience of so many Israelis of Schorr’s generation, who found themselves torn over the War
of Attrition and questioning their government for the first time.
Background
When does this movie take place?
June 1970, about one year and five months since the War of Attrition began and two months
before it ended with a ceasefire.
 The War of Attrition was a conflict between Israel and Egypt, lasting from 1969 to 1970.
 Resulted from the lack of serious diplomatic attempts to resolve the issues at the heart of
the Arab-Israeli conflict following the 1967 Six Day War.
 As part of the September 1967 Khartoum Resolution, Arab states formulated the “Three
Nos” policy: (1) no peace, (2) no recognition of Israel and (3) no negotiations with Israel.
 Egyptian President Gamel Abdel Nasser wanted Israel to withdraw from the Sinai (which had
been acquired during the 6-day war)
o This led to more hostilities along the Suez Canal, as there had been during the 6
day war.
o It started out pretty small, with limited artillery duels and small-scale incursions
into the Sinai…
 But on March 8, 1969, Nasser proclaimed the official launch of the War of Attrition,
which was characterized by: large scale shelling along the Canal, extensive aerial warfare
and commando raids.
 In August 1970, there was a ceasefire, even though Nasser hadn’t accomplished his goal.
o The frontiers remained the same as when the war began, and there was no
commitment to serious peace negotiations.
War of Attrition is called Milhemet haHatashah (‫ )מלחמת ההתשה‬in Hebrew…. War of the
weakening.
Takes place in Tel Aviv:
 Liberal, Ashkenazic city
 Little reference made to non-Ashkenazic Jewry
 The wedding is very ashkenazic (klezmer clarinet, Yiddish song)
Side note: I heard from an Israeli film director named Ro’ee whom I met at a Jewish educators
conference that Tel Aviv is now too expensive for most young people to live in. The incoming
mayor will have to contend with that issue.
Things to pay attention to
Variety of Views on War and Zionism

- Is it generational? Or is it on an individual basis?
Generational
- Song written in 1995 about the Yom Kippur War
o Called Winter 73 (choref shiv’im v’shalosh), about those conceived immediately
after the Yom Kippur war
 “You promised us doves and peace… didn’t want to send us to war”
 The toll that war takes on Israeli society
Individual
- Argument at the beach, following the wedding: the groom argues that war/the army is
necessary for peace… Israel has to be strong if it wants peace (otherwise its vulnerable to
enemies) and being strong means having an army, and having an army means people get
killed. It’s just how things work.
 Conservative? Accepting the status quo? Mainstream.
 Even today it is relatively rare to seek exempts… although as more Israelis travel to India
and other places where they are exposed to pacifist ideals, more are against war
Argument: the army is part of being Israeli
Counter-argument: Israel is a democracy, and speaking out against war can be part of being an
Israeli, too. (Minority opinion)
How are they (dis)respecting Zionist ideals and characters?

 Golda Meir
o Make fun of Golda Meir’s American accent, when dropping of Naomi (the pal
reader girl)
o Have her framed picture smoke hash, tell her to relax… a very serious woman
 Joseph Trumpeldor
o Born in Russia, in 1880
o Highest decorated Jewish soldier in Russia, lost his left arm in battle
o Came to Israel when it was under Ottoman rule
o In 1915, he and Ze’ev Jabotinsky started the Zion Mule Corps, also called the
Jewish Legion, which was five service battalions (38th-42nd) of the British army
consisting entirely of Jewish volunteers…
o Was involved in the defense of the Tel Hai Jewish community, which Arabs were
attacking in 1920
o he was fatally wounded in this attack and supposedly said on his death bed, “Ein
davar, tov Lamut b’ad artzeinu.” / “Nevermind, it is good to die for one’s
country”
o This was a very celebrated Zionist story
When soldiers die:

- They are someone’s kid
- To this day, on Yom Hazikaron, high schools will read the names of former students who
were killed in military action or terrorist attacks
o At the gymaniusm in the Rehavia region of Jerusalem, went to one of these
ceremonies and saw it done.
- Everyone knows someone, or is someone, who lost a family member
- This was especially true earlier in Israel’s history, when war was almost constant… and
during the intifada, when tons of people were being killed or injured on a regular basis
(on buses, at cafes, in wedding halls, etc)
- So, on Yom Hazikaron, they blow a loud siren for a long time (at least a minute, probably
longer) for which everyone around town stops. People climb out of their cars and stand in
silence on the road while this siren is going off.
The army as a rite of passage:

- Mossi was jealous of older brothers, who came home with guns and army packs
- It’s what you do after graduating high school, like many of us consider college something
you do after graduating high school
- Friends are divided like when going off to college
o except your friends are more likely to die
- follows the Bagrut exam
o which the ultra-orthodox tend to do poorly on, since they spend most of their time
on Torah and barely any time on math or other subjects
o don’t pass bagrut exam, don’t have a high school diploma
- Army = status: Hava wasn’t very interested in Yossi until he said he’d come back with
his wings…
o Goal to join a prestigious unit
- “intelligence units” sound important, but are not actually that special… mostly desk jobs
- paratroopers are one of the most prestigious things… along with pilots, and golani
- The diabetic filmmaker is upset that he cannot participate in this rite of passage, decides t
travel instead (which is now a new right of passage/common practice among young
Israelis between finishing their army duty and starting university
What the movie does not show about the army:

- Camaraderie
o very little maybe in the form of people trying to be helpful, i.e. the military band
leader who offers to pull strings, and the other kids waiting in the hospital, trying
to get medical exemptions
- How army connections will help you later in life
o Hinted at… asking the radical friend how he’s going to deal later with being the
one guy who “deserted”
Little things to note:

- The address 13 hagilboa. Mt. Gilboa is the site where Saul, the first King of Israel and his
sons died fighting the Philistines (I Samuel 38:8)
o War throughout the culture
- Spray painted, “there is no just war” right before running from the cops

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Renen Schorr’s 1987 film Late Summer Blues portrays a group of Israeli teens who have recently

When does this movie take place?

Things to pay attention to

Variety of Views on War and Zionism

Argument: the army is part of being Israeli

How are they (dis)respecting Zionist ideals and characters?

When soldiers die:

The army as a rite of passage:

What the movie does not show about the army:

Little things to note:

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