ABSTRACT

This chapter considers the social/political context of the British release of the three films and attempt to understand their reception by the public in general. The three films are: The Sword in the Desert, Exodus and Cast a Giant Shadow. The chapter analyses representational strategies contained in British imperial films are prevalent in the three films. Ann Kaplan suggests that Hollywood had a fascination with British colonialism. The presentation of the birth of Israel by the three films recycled colonial imagery to simplify a complicated historical event. The confusion engendered by films such as these continues to this day in Britain, with deep misunderstanding about the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Two key pro-Zionist motifs of Israel visualised in the film are the images of Israel as a 'promised land' and the idea of Israel as bringing progress and development in an underdeveloped world.