Judith (1966)

You won't be disappointed!

To me, this movie is perfection.

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Judith Aurbach (Sophia Loren) is an extremely rare survivor of a Nazi death camp. She is now(1948) at a refugee camp awaiting a chance to enter the prospective state of Israel. Her husband, Gustav Schiller, a former Nazi tank corps commander, is reported to be in this general area. Her primary goal is to find him and extract revenge upon him for revealing to the Gestapo that she was a Jew, thus fit to be sent to a concentration camp. She also is driven to find her son, if he is alive, also thought to be in this general region. The Jewish underground also wants to capture Schiller, who is reported to be heading the Syrian tank corps. They hope to extract what he knows about the Syrian war plans against Israel and the location of their tank corps. Since there is no good photo of Schiller available to the Israelites, They want to bring Judith into the 'çountry' and use her to identify Schilling, should they encounter him. She is hidden in a secrete compartment of a crate, along with other things, and shipped to Israel, where her crate passes immigration inspection. She is sent to a kibbutz adjacent to a border with Syria. The Syrians occasionally fire ordinance into the kibbutz, mostly to remind the Israelis that they are there. Once, they fired missiles that set part of the kibbutz on fire. She hated most of the menial work assigned to her, and was not pleased that, once again, she was in the midst of a war zone. The British military, preparing to soon withdraw from the region, is reported to keep a file on ex-Nazi war criminals, and which may contain information about the recent whereabouts of Schiller. So, how to obtain such information? It's decided that Judith will travel to Haifa, and try to 'charm' Major Lawton into handing over the relevant file. Seems like an impossible venture, but Judith eventually pulls it off. Now Judith, Aaron(Peter Finch), and a companion are smuggled into Damascus, where Schiller is reported to have been recently. Judith spots him at an outdoor café. He recognizes her, but can't believe she's alive. He doesn't let on that he suspects her, but follows her when she walks toward where Aaron and the other are hiding. When she stops in front of their hiding place, they acknowledge that they are who they think they are. Then, Judith pulls a gun and fires. Schiller falls, badly wounded. Judith is castigated for exercising her chance for revenge over the goal of capturing and interrogating him. Somehow, they smuggle Schiller out of Syria and take him to Judith's kibbutz, where he is interrogated.He refuses to divulge any info the interrogates want. They know that physical mistreatment could easily kill him in his condition, thus the interrogators leave him for the day. But ,Judith later sneaks into his room and gets him to talk some, threatening him with another gun shot. He tells where the attack will mainly come from(Why couldn't this info be obtained from reconnaissance planes?). Schiller also mentions he knows where their son is, but delays telling where. I will stop my summary here, and let you see the climax, perhaps on YouTube.This is a very implausible story, beginning with the chance that the Jewish wife of a Nazi general is one of the very few survivors of Nazi extermination camps. It's very unclear how the little team managed to smuggle a badly injured Schiller out of Syria. Also, the possibility that Major Lawton would hand over sensitive files to Judith(even if she was Sophia Loren) seems preposterous. There are also a few instances when it wasn't clear to me what was going on. On the other hand, it is an interesting story of the chances people will take to accomplish important goals, gives a fair exposure to what kibbutz are like, and has some good battle scenes.

Yes, throughout this film and being an amateur artist who likes drawing & painting beautiful women, I was mesmerised by Sophia's eye makeup considering she played a victim of Dachau yet looked remarkably fit, healthy, well fed and sported top of the range cosmetics especially on her face!Other reviewers have adequately commented on the plot and main characters.Considering I am now 69 and have always liked going to the cinema, I was surprised I had never seen this title before but thanks to www.youtube.com it is now available to world audiences.However,this TV movie seemed to be merely a device for showing off Loren's stunning figure and beauty although the action sequences of the Syrian attack on the kibbutz were well produced.My rating was 6/10.

This movie is a vehicle for sex goddess Sophia Loren, while also trying to make her look like a "serious" actress. This aspect of the movie was only moderately interesting. But if you can ignore that, it is also an interesting look at the start of the nation of Israel and the war they had to immediately fight for survival. I enjoyed seeing how they prepared secretly for the war and the depiction of an espionage operation. The immediate attacks by the surrounding nations would have been terrifying if they hadn't thought about and prepared for this so strenuously. There was great loss of life but also great acts of courage. Peter Finch was great as an intense young Israeli leader, and Jack Hawkins was his usual personable, dapper self. The scenery and sets were good and believable.

This film is a superb film. I managed to get the soundtrack of it on vinyl but have not seen it anywhere on DVD. I think it is possibly one of Sophia Loren's best films. Does anyone know if it is likely to be released at any time. This film used to be shown regularly on British television and now seems to have gone into the archives. The film shows a very good matching of characters to the parts they play. Jack Hawkins also plays his character with feeling and depth.The subject matter to certain people in view of the current situation in Israel could make this film a little to near the mark for certain people. I would ask that someone reviews the issue of non availability on DVD.