Month Before 50 A year has been revealed to us by the image of Officer Azoulay, One of the iconic heroes of Israeli culture. The character of the sensitive policeman, The naïve and unlucky, played by Shayka Ophir, was engraved in hearts and brought the film bearing his name to cult film status and to star in all the list of Israeli favorite films.

Maybe that's why Yes recently chose to pay tribute to an ad starring Noa Kirrel.. However, the heirs of the writer and director of the film, Ephraim Kishon, recently sent the company a letter of warning before a lawsuit alleging that the use of motifs from the film “Officer Azoulay” The advertisement was made without regulating the copyright and demanded that it be removed.

Either way., Officer Azoulay was stitched up by Kishon for the size of Shayka Ophir and the character created by the talented actor on his return to Israel from the United States in the early 1960s.. “The image of a monkey cop is a purposeful display of Shayka Ophir's abilities, which he has accumulated over the years”, Says Ari Davidovich’, Director and Producer “The hidden life of shaike Ophir”. “Shayka began his career as a mime.. He had deep training on the subject and he became a master of body control.. He later realized that he needed to make friends with the speech., Because pantomime is hard to make a living.. After deliberations and experiences, he began to engage in sketches and acting., While also combining the background with pantomime and creating something innovative and groundbreaking”.

What distinguished the characters he played in those years?
“Shayka took figures from the street., See how they talk, How they wobbly, What are their characteristics and then build a sketch based on the same character. Inside the gallery of characters from those years grew the monkey cop who later became Abraham Azoulay”.

In 1963, Ophir was invited by his friend, Impresario and producer Avraham Deschamps (Fassnell (1999)) Write and direct the first plan of a new trio he founded – The Pale Tracker. Among the sketch writers for scouts is Ephraim Kishon, at the same time his film “Saleh Shabri” Won a worldwide success with an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe.

The acquaintance between Ofir and Kishon immediately became friendship. It was clear to Kishon that he was interested in Opir for his film. “Arbeinka (israel)”. Rocking, Released in 1967 starring Haim Topol, Ophir first played the character of the confused and nascent monkey cop. The same character was widely expressed in Kishon's next film. – “Blaumalach Canal” (1969). A comedy of mistakes that tells of Kazimir Blaumilach who escapes from an asylum and begins digging a canal in the center of Tel Aviv, When he gets backing from the hyphened cop.

“My father saw Shayka's incredible abilities in these two films and used to say he wasn't just a very good actor., It's a genius.”, Number Rafi Kishon, Among other things, he gives lectures on the stories behind his father's works.. “He explained to me that a very good actor does exactly what the director wants from him., And that a genius actor adds things that the director hasn't thought of.. That's what Sheika did with the cop character., Including”.

According to Kishon, His father decided to do something he hadn't done before.: “Normally, my father's movies would be based on a story of his published.. But after seeing Shayka's job at #8217;’ ’Blaumilach Canal’, He decided to write a new script specifically for him.”. “Kishon took the character and perfected it.”, Adds Davidovich’. “He puts a policeman with an Oriental accent at the center of the film., What was not until then in Israeli cinema”.

There was no element of ridicule of the eastern communities., After all, the policeman is Shlomiel and Loser.?
“Shayka would come to his characters at eye level.. He never patronized the characters, but entered the content with full understanding and identification.. His imitation came from character., From the personality and social place of the character, From its true characteristics – And that's the opposite of ridicule.. He didn't laugh at her, but came from her.. There was something a little subversive about his character., Because suddenly The Oriental has become a character of the star that holds the whole movie. The character herself was very human., Very hot’ And in it he actually introduced the other side of the white establishment, The policemen and their commanders who were white Ashkenazi. So there's actually an image of someone here who on the one hand isn't a good cop, but he has other abilities that inspire empathy.”.

We all cried with him.

In 1970, Kishon began writing a screenplay describing the life of Hippo policeman Avraham Azoulay., Servant 20 One year in the Israel Police. Despite the oldness, Remained in the junior ranks due to his failures in performing tasks and because of his characteristic perfectionism. Not only that.: His direct commanders decide not to renew his employment contract., And Officer Azoulay is required to leave his post.. The film depicts Azoulay's emotional tidal moments and roller coaster around his complicated relationship with his sick wife Betty, His unfulfilled friendship with Mimi the and his relationship with criminals willing to stage a crime so that Azuly would be thwarted., Which would prevent his dismissal from the police force..

“It's a cop who's secretly religious., Underground (israel), When you don't see him, he prays.. Soft-hearted. He had to actually be a teacher., Not a cop., But he just wants to be a cop.. It's a small tragedy., Greek, And in the end, he also expresses himself in the famous salute., When we all cried with him”, Ephraim Kishon recounted in an interview with Judean Fall on the program “There were movies.” And he meant the immortal ending in which the officer is informed that he will not continue in his duties., Coming out of the station and when he comes across his fellow officers, they salute him., And he's in a close-up on his tearful face..

Davidovich’ Indicates that Lydia Ophir, Sheikha's wife, Claimed her husband deserved screenwriting credit for his involvement in writing the script. “She held this insult until the day she died.”, He says. “But Shayka himself never took credit.”.

“I wrote the script, but while directing, he added a lot of his touch., As usual”, Address kishon for things on the show “There were movies.”. “Sometimes I had to determine that he was doing it better than I imagined or that I wrote, But a fact I wrote for him. So this is his movie, and you can't argue with that.”.

End 1970 Kishon began casting the actors who will play alongside Ofir: Zohara Harifai as Betty; Avner Hezekiyah as Police Station Commander; Yetsko Rahamimov as a #8217;Renault, His direct and nervous commander; Yusef Shiloah Ka'amar and his gang of criminals, Gabi Amrani THE”Yemeni” and Abraham Selector as”Cactus”. Aryeh Elias also played his loyal friend Albert and Nitza Shaul in the role from the days of the prostitute.

“It was the first movie I ever made.”, Restoring Saul, Who was a soldier then. “Fassnell (1999), That in his office I was signed, Invited Ephraim to see a performance by a Central Command band I served in.. Then Kishon invited me over for an audition at his house.. ‘Doll’La ’, He told me with a heavy Hungarian accent and pointed to my long hair., ‘You look like Madonna’. I happened to have a short wig in my bag., I put it on and he told me: ‘Oh! Now you look like a working girl.!'”.

“Dad asked me how I felt about Nitza., After seeing her at the concert. She was sweet and beautiful, and from the high age of my youth, I was in love with her.”, Recalled Rafi Kishon. “It wasn't until the audition that he said he wanted her for a watery role.. She read the part and told him: ‘What, Ephraim, You want me to play a whore.?’. ‘Not a prostitute’, My dad said: ‘Working Girl'”. “It's a character who tells a lot about the hero of the movie., Who saw in her a facet that no one else saw”, Says Saul. “That's Kishon's genius., Getting to know a cop with a prostitute is completely human.. A girl who's easy to fall in love with and separate from her profession”.

“I was a young actor from the stage, and this was my first movie.”, Recalled actor Abraham Selector. “Ephraim invited me to his house and auditioned for me., And suddenly as a man who hadn't come out of the shell of the swamp, I stood, ’, Next to great players. The attitude I received from them was outstanding.. Yossi Shiloah taught me to stand in front of a camera, And Gabby Amrani would take me with his mini minor to the set and bring me home.. And Shayka Ophir was a great soul at all.. I knew all his sketches by heart., He was like God to me.”.

lyrics and poetry

At the same time as casting, Kishon turned to musician and composer Nurit Hirsch to create the soundtrack to the film. “‘Hirsch’, He told me, ‘I want you to write the music for the new film I'm #8217;. No hesitation I said ‘ yes’. And that's it.. That's how it all started.. We met at his home in Afka and discussed the film and parted ways with the script.”, Restoring Hirsch.

How your work went?
“I marked in the script the places I thought music was needed.. Then we met in the studio and saw the early unedited shots., To soak up the atmosphere. There I first became acquainted with the character of Officer Azoulay, and while watching, the melody was buzzing in my head., The same lynée that will be repeated again and again during the film with different tools and orchestram according to the scene. At the time, Ehud Manor and I were an integral duo., That's why it was clear to me that he would be the one to match the lyrics to the melody.. Indeed, Ehud did a work of thought. The lyrics sat stamp on the melody. Ephraim didn't know the Hebrew singer, so he asked me to choose the singer to perform the song.. I chose Oshik Levy., Because of his voice and singing style that matched the theme song. Thankfully a lot the combination of words, The melody, The performance and of course the character of Shayka Ophir created one perfection that spoke to the hearts”.

Song “A ballad for a police officer”, Played against the backdrop of the final scene after the dance of tears flooding Azoulay's eyes upon his retirement from the police force, Became an unforgettable classic in the Hebrew singer. “Kishon's known me since my days in central command., Because he wrote sketches for the band.”, Levy number. “He took me to the first movie he made with #8216;’ Then to ’ #8217;. One day he came to me and told me that while he had no role for me in the film ‘ Officer Azoulay’, But he wants me to sing the theme song.. I came to the studios., I read the text and performed the song in an extraordinary production of Nurit, When the studio accompanies me 40 Live musicians”.

The soundtrack of the film also included “Mimi's Poetry” Performed by Tsila Dagan and orchestral instrumental performances alongside the play by harmonica artist Danny Adler, Trumpeter Yitzhak Kate and guitarist Yigal Hird.

Over the years, the theme song has been recorded in a variety of cover versions., Among other things, yes's ad, That's where he got a reprocessing.. “I loved Noa Kirel's performance.”, Says Hirsch. “She brings something so fresh in her voice.”. But there's no doubt that the most exciting version of all is that of actress and singer Karin Ophir., Shayka's daughter. “Many times I've been offered to sing ‘ a ballad to a #8217;, But because I've always run away from #8216;the daughter of ’, I politely declined.”, She says. “At an honor event 45 Change to Movie, My mom pressured me to do the song with Oshik Levy.. I did it as a favor to my mother, but also to myself., To find my personal blanc. The next time I performed the song was in Ari Davidovich's film.’ ‘The Hidden Life of Shayka Ophir ’. And during the coronavirus, After seeing so much performance to sing, I recorded with the talented Tal Levy an invested and renewed arrangement of the song, And I emailed Norit Hirsch. I wasn't even planning on getting him fit, and I preferred to keep him with me., As something personal, But Nurit was excited and pressed us to publish it., And I thank her for that.”.

Universal story

The film premiered in film “Hood” In Tel Aviv in the presence of military personnel, Politicians, Ministers and people of the bohma. Upon its release, the film was a huge box office success and critical in Israeli cinemas. He also received screenings overseas., When the first premiere abroad”She was in New York city on 6 April. 1972.

“Officer Azoulay” Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film (1972) And won a Golden Globe award for Best Foreign Language Film, David Israeli Violin Award, The Foreign Film Award at the Barcelona Film Festival, Director's Award at the Festival “C’Cino del Duca” In Monte Carlo and the Judges' Award in Atlanta.
“It is customary to say that the film is the essence of Israeliness, But the truth is that the film is not essentially Israeli in almost any sense.”, Explains Jonathan Gat, Lecturer at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya and presenter of the cinematic endorsement “Festival here” of the Broadcasting Corporation. “It's a completely universal story of a man living in the frustrating gap between big ambitions and inability to realize them.. Which is why it won't be hard to imagine the same movie with an Italian cop like Roberto Benini on the streets of Rome., Or Louis de Pines on the streets of Paris.. That's why he had a wide international eclipse.”.

Indeed, Rafi Kishon himself reveals that there are currently contacts with elements of the global film industry to remake the film. “It's a wonderful international story.”, He says.

How different it was perceived in the landscape of local cinema in those years?
Gat: “The use of a police officer in such a position was different and surprising.. Until then, the police officers in Israeli cinema were portrayed as tough and authoritarian on the one hand., like Yossi Yedin's role in #8216;Aldordo’, Or clowns on the other #8217;’ ’Blaumilach Canal’. In this film, the policeman is portrayed for the first time as having empathy and kindness.. He is not hated for his toughness and is not ridiculed with great joy by the viewer.. The laughter produced by the lack of talent and lack of awareness is full of a great lot of compassion and sadness. And when you place the cop as the main character, This is also the first time in Israeli cinema, The viewer faces a representation of authority that falls apart before his eyes, Until the sad salute at the end. The disintegration of authority as it had not yet been seen before”.

Many claim that Officer Azoulay is the role of Shayka Ophir's life, But Gat disapproves of the resolute assertion: “Shayka Ophir was a player in the International League and appeared with world players, Like Marlena Dietrich., Richard #8217;Richard Burton, Marcel Marco and Robert Shaw. He performed extraordinary roles such as in Alfred Hitchcock's #8217;Cook ‘The Waxwork’ There he appeared as a wax manne who came to life, Or in the films of the illustrious Moshe Mizrahi, ‘Abu al-Banat’ ’The house on 3’, There you can see him in much more engaging and complex roles. There's no doubt that Azuulay is his most popular business card., But his résuma is richer.”.

Ophir's daughter says that there are quite a few similarities between her father and his character in the film. “Nevertheless,”, She says, “It's a character That Shayka himself created from and gave it to us as a gift.. In the film, he reads chapter #8216;Isaiah ’, And he really liked that book.. Like the cop., He was a spiritual man.. And like a cop, he was sensitive., Peacemaker, Loves words and verses, Humble and a man of the great world. The film connected to its spiritual soul in the sense of walking with the artistic truth to the end without falling into hypocrisy or becoming a tool in the game Shaw Business. Father, Like the cop., There was a sponge of sensitivity and creativity”.

“The secret to the magic of the film is the combination of a wonderful script about a character that anyone can identify with., of an educated man, Know languages, Savvy in the Bible and the Bible”You and an idealist”, Said Kishon. “Everyone can identify with the desire to succeed and face difficulties and identify with the unfulfilled love story between him and Mimi”.

“Shaike, who created a positive character, Naïve and peaceful, and the whole color scheme, Turn the film into something personal that anyone can laugh at their naiveys.”, Says Gabi Amrani. “The story itself is beautiful, Naïve and touching all viewers. Officer Azoulay is the flagship of Israeli cinema, And that's a lot because of Kishon's own story., Thanks to Shayka Ophir and the rest of the team”.

“It's such a human movie.”, Says Saul. “He's dealing with a cop., But can engage anyone with their own weaknesses., With his dreams, With his reality and his own, His failures and successes. It's a heart-resale film that, of course, has a comic side that balances it out.. Lyric comedy, That there's not a lot like her that really works well and deep.. That's what you need a wonderful director and creator like Ephraim Kishon and an actor like Shayka., That could on the one hand break your heart and on the other hand tear you up laughing.. There's an exact mix of so many things here.”.

“Later, I understood the depth of this film and that of officer Avraham Azoulay's character., That he's too good a man to be a good cop.”, Says Selector. “It also has a sad tragic element. I think Sheika Ophir connected with this character because in his final years he was a little forgotten and he felt irrelevant., Like Officer Azoulay.”. “There's so much in this movie.: Social criticism as well, Which is something Kishan was very good at., Comedy, too., Drama, too.”, Says Davidovich’. “In that respect, the film had the ability to speak to any Israeli.. And in fact, not just for Israelis., But also for viewers around the world”.

“The reason the film did so well is the delicate mix of comedy and tragedy.”, Says Gat. “It's interesting to think that Sheika Ophir worked his whole life to make the audience laugh and Ashes Kishon worked his whole life to make the audience laugh. – And the most famous scene of both is a tragic scene.. Which proves The #8217;Charlie #8217; Flynn: ‘We laugh so as not to cry’. Behind all the desire to entertain, there is also a sadness that his way of being released is through laughter.. The film manages to maintain itself as a nostalgia that is pleasant to snoop on, But whoever's holding the movie alive really is Shayka Ophir.. His mighty skill set, that includes tremendous physical control, Pantomime capability, Controlling many languages, Virtuoso imitation abilities of mimicking – Makes the movie mesmerizing. Without it, the movie would have been forgotten.”.
in the year 1982 Ophir returned to play Officer Azoulay in an advertisement for Discount Bank. What is being taken for granted today, Was then unforgivable. Daughter Karin recalls being charged with being traded. “Put him on the stake.”, She says. “Shout in the media ‘How dare he?!’, But he beat everyone to it and realized you have to make a living., And that this character is so rooted in culture and Israeliness that she's a part of it.. It's not commercialized.. Nowadays starring with your mythical character in an ad is considered an honor, And my dad always ran away from publicity.. He didn't understand how he was accused of that commercial as if he'd committed a felony.”.

28 A year after the same ad aired, the bank returned to the same character and in a new video combined excerpts from the original video with new footage featuring Modi Bar-On and Israel Catorza. “The bank understood that there was value to this character that she was so Israeli and so speaks to everyone and so special in terms of her ability to touch people. The publicists were willing to pay a lot of money to use it.”, Explains Davidovich’ And reminiscent of the latest ad for yes company that made homage’ Movie. “There are two sides to this coin.: On the one hand, the fact that commercial companies use iron sheep assets to sell products, Creates a great feeling of discomfort in a lot of people. On the other hand, The fact that Noa Kirrel participates in an ad about the film creates a buzz and talk around it and exposes it to young audiences”.

Shaike Ophir, Who passed away in August 1987 At the age of 58 only, Considered to this day one of the players, The beloved and groundbreaking comedians and artists in our provinces. Ephraim Kishon, One of the most influential and acclaimed directors in Israeli cinema passed away in January 2005 At the age of 80. 50 A year since it was first screened on screens, The film “Officer Azoulay” Keeps reminding us of some of the beautiful moments, The most exciting and Israeli in local culture.