The Wall Street Journal - 09.08.2019

A10| Friday, August 9, 2019 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

RAN MENDELSON/HBO

TELEVISION REVIEW|DOROTHY RABINOWITZ

‘Our Boys’: A Chronicle

Of Two Crimes

A drama about the murder of three Israeli teenagers and the killing of a Palestinian boy that followed

IT’S CLEARfrom the outset of this

dazzling chronicle set in Israel that

there’s not going to be any soften-

ing of its extraordinary tension, its

scenes of anguished suffering, its

furiously eloquent debates on jus-

tice and loyalty, its epic crowd

scenes—tens of thousands march-

ing to voice their rage or to pray.

The ambition that powered the cre-

ation of “Our Boys” (begins Monday

with back-to-back episodes, 9 p.m.,

HBO), a saga about two crimes and

their consequences, looms over ev-

erything, a dramatic presence all its

own, with each of its 10 episodes

proving more complex than the

last. And as a result, sharper. That

so complicated, so crowded, a work

of history—created and largely

written by Hagai Levi, Joseph Cedar

and Tawfik Abu-Wael for Keshet

Studios and HBO—can emerge with

the searing clarity of “Our Boys” is

no small miracle of storytelling.

The events on which the drama

is based began in Israel in June of

2014 when three hitchhiking Jew-

ish teenagers were kidnapped and

murdered by agents of Hamas.

They were Naftali Fraenkel, Gilad

Shaer and Eyal Yifrah. The im-

mense emotional impact on Israe-

“Our Boys” is, above all, a detec-

tive story. Emotionally charged

and eloquently drawn, the show’s

slow but steady unearthing of the

truth about the great crime cen-

tral to this story is the essence of

its life.

Simon and his Shin Bet partners

go into action as soon as the three

boys disappear, their aim being to

thwart riots and violence. Well

aware of the possibilities of re-

venge passions among Israelis if

the boys are found dead, they sum-

mon all their forces, including a

spy, given a brief vacation from

prison because of his capacity to

infiltrate extremist Orthodox

groups. A more imposing force by

far, it becomes apparent, is the ad-

vanced technology, the listening

devices and remarkable concealed

cameras the agency has at its dis-

posal. The scenes tracking suspects

border on the irresistible.

As Simon, Mr. Elkabetz creates

a character at once electric and

filled with a moving solemnity—

the man who will end up having to

unearth the facts about an occur-

rence infinitely more horrifying

than raging street demonstrators.

Though he’s in no doubt about the

lis—of the case of the missing

boys, the tormenting wait for word

of their fate, the massive crowds

that assembled in public prayer for

their safe return—is largely the

subject of the first episode. It’s

also an introduction to the show’s

most essential character, Simon

(Shlomi Elkabetz), an agent of Shin

Bet, Israel’s internal security

agency (as opposed to the world

famous Mossad, which concerns it-

self with intelligence matters out-

side of Israel).

Simon, it’s soon clear, has some

differences with his colleagues—

but what leading character in a

police drama does not? Despite its

focus on a major conflict in the

world—the events on which the

series is based are credited with

setting off the 2014 war in Gaza—

Shlomi Elkabetz and Tzahi Grad, above, and a scene from ‘Our Boys,’ top,

created and largely written by Hagai Levi, Joseph Cedar and Tawfik Abu-Wael

Weather

Shown are today’s noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.

City Hi LoW Hi LoW City Hi Lo W Hi Lo W

Today Tomorrow Today Tomorrow

City Hi LoW Hi LoW

Anchorage 73 57 s 71 58 pc

Atlanta 93 76 pc 92 75 pc

Austin 102 73 pc 102 75 s

Baltimore 89 62 pc 88 63 s

Boise 90 64 pc 82 59 pc

Boston 84 65 s 81 61 pc

Burlington 78 60 t 72 55 t

Charlotte 94 72 pc 92 71 pc

Chicago 82 62 s 84 66 pc

Cleveland 80 62 s 78 60 s

Dallas 101 81 pc 101 82 pc

Denver 90 65 t 86 63 pc

Detroit 81 59 pc 81 61 s

Honolulu 90 77 s 90 79 pc

Houston 100 80 pc 99 79 pc

Indianapolis 86 62 s 84 64 pc

Kansas City 85 68 c 89 74 c

Las Vegas 104 78 s 101 77 s

Little Rock 88 71 t 88 75 c

Los Angeles 82 62 pc 82 63 pc

Miami 92 79 pc 91 79 pc

Milwaukee 81 61 s 80 66 pc

Minneapolis 81 65 s 76 66 t

Nashville 88 69 t 90 69 pc

New Orleans 92 81 c 92 81 pc

New York City 84 67 s 82 66 s

Oklahoma City 95 75 t 101 77 pc

Omaha 84 68 s 88 75 c

Orlando 92 77 pc 91 77 t

Philadelphia 86 66 s 85 65 s

Phoenix 104 85 pc 99 82 pc

Pittsburgh 79 57 s 79 55 s

Portland, Maine 81 61 s 76 56 pc

Portland, Ore. 78 59 pc 75 58 sh

Sacramento 86 63 s 85 60 s

St. Louis 87 68 pc 89 72 pc

Salt Lake City 92 73 s 94 70 s

San Francisco 73 62 pc 75 59 pc

Santa Fe 87 59 t 86 60 pc

Seattle 73 59 pc 71 58 c

Sioux Falls 82 64 s 84 67 r

Wash., D.C. 91 67 pc 87 66 pc

Amsterdam 74 63 t 72 60 pc

Athens 96 80 s 96 78 s

Baghdad 110 79 s 110 80 s

Bangkok 91 78 t 91 79 sh

Beijing 88 73 t 83 72 t

Berlin 81 67 pc 82 62 pc

Brussels 78 62 t 75 58 pc

Buenos Aires 52 36 pc 61 42 s

Dubai 114 90 s 112 92 c

Dublin 67 59 r 66 52 sh

Edinburgh 69 58 r 68 52 t

Frankfurt 86 66 t 78 59 pc

Geneva 91 66 s 78 59 pc

Havana 91 74 t 91 73 t

Hong Kong 94 84 pc 93 82 t

Istanbul 88 73 s 89 75 s

Jakarta 91 74 pc 91 75 pc

Jerusalem 84 65 s 84 62 s

Johannesburg 74 45 s 68 48 s

London 77 60 t 72 57 sh

Madrid 90 66 s 91 66 pc

Manila 88 80 t 88 81 sh

Melbourne 51 40 pc 52 43 sh

Mexico City 76 57 t 75 56 t

Milan 90 73 s 91 72 s

Moscow 63 54 r 67 51 sh

Mumbai 85 81 r 85 79 t

Paris 85 63 t 80 57 pc

Rio de Janeiro 83 69 s 87 71 s

Riyadh 109 80 s 111 80 pc

Rome 90 69 s 91 69 s

San Juan 91 80 pc 90 79 s

Seoul 92 77 pc 96 78 pc

Shanghai 90 81 sh 85 79 r

Singapore 89 80 pc 89 82 t

Sydney 65 48 s 60 48 s

Taipei City 84 80 r 94 86 c

Tokyo 9180pc 9180pc

Toronto 7759pc 7657pc

Vancouver 73 58 pc 70 56 c

Warsaw 7857pc 8162t

Zurich 89 63 pc 72 57 pc

Today Tomorrow

U.S. Forecasts

International

City Hi Lo W Hi Lo W

s...sunny; pc... partly cloudy; c...cloudy; sh...showers;

t...t’storms; r...rain; sf...snow flurries; sn...snow; i...ice

Today Tomorrow

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Orlando

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San Diego Phoenix

Los Angeles

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Mpls./St. Paul

St. Louis

Chicago

Washington D.C.

Boston

Charleston

Milwaukee Hartford

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Helena Bismarck

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San Antonio

Des Moines

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Tucson

Albany

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Winnipeg

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dangers of those, either. Having

raised objections to the way the

parents of the missing boys and

the Israeli public are being led to

believe the teenagers may still re-

turn unharmed, he’s accused, by a

colleague, of lacking human sym-

pathy. What’s wrong with giving a

grieving parent a little hope?

The discovery of the boys’ bod-

ies leads to the expected national

grief and huge demonstrations,

with marchers calling for ven-

geance, as Israeli police try to dis-

perse the crowds. There will not

long after be other marches of

thousands calling for vengeance—

this time for the murder of a Pales-

tinian teenager from East Jerusa-

lem, Mohammed Abu Khdeir (Ram

Masarweh), victim of a revenge

kidnapping. He has a considerable

presence in the film unlike the

three Israeli boys killed by Hamas.

His burned body, found in a for-

est, exhibited evidence of unspeak-

able torture by his killers—a fact

that horrified all Israelis, Jews and

Arabs alike. Mothers of the three

murdered Israeli teenagers deliv-

ered emotional condolences to Mo-

hammed’s parents; Jews from the

boy’s neighborhood built a monu-

ment to him, soon desecrated. Mo-

hammed’s father, Hussein Abu Kh-

deir (Joni Arbid) and his mother

Suha (an affecting and perfect

Ruba Blal) are inconsolable. Hus-

sein, egged on by local militants to

resist any help from Israeli investi-

gators lest Israel get credit in the

world—and suspicious himself of

the Israeli police and their ques-

tions—nonetheless responds to

their request for details. They are,

he seems finally to accept, clearly

determined to find his son’s mur-

derers.

Mr. Arbid is a formidable pres-

ence throughout as Hussein, a man

torn by conflict between the pres-

sures to reject and distrust Israe-

lis, and the evidence of his own ex-

perience with them in this time of

his grief. The latter tells him they

should be trusted, a conclusion he

accepts grudgingly. Suha has no in-

terest in any investigation. What

good would capturing the killers

do, what good would there be in a

trial? It would not bring her son

back, nor could she bear to listen

to defense lawyers for the murder-

ers. She can bear nothing.

In this story packed with formi-

dable characters, none are more

vivid, more sharply drawn, per-

haps, than those in the world of

the ultra-Orthodox Jews who play

so significant a role in “Our

Boys”—a work of distinguished

writing, fearless in its sophistica-

tion, unfailing in its powers.

Our Boys

Begins Monday, 9 p.m., HBO

That so complicated a

work of history can

emerge with such clarity

is a feat of storytelling

LIFE&ARTS

SIMON SAYS| By Peter Gordon

TheWSJDailyCrossword|Edited by Mike Shenk

1234 56789 10111213

14 15 16

17 18 19

20 21 22

23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34

35 36 37

38 39 40 41

42 43 44 45

46 47 48

49 50 51

52 53 54 55 56

57 58 59 60 61 62

63 64 65

66 67 68

The answer to

this week’s contest

crossword isa song.

Across

1 Most of a penny

5 Mauve kin

10 Lord’s laborer

14 Clue

15 Some Lancaster

County farmers

16 The Fates, e.g.

17 Lobster traps

18 Stingray relative

19 Shout when

someone says

the same thing

as you at the

same time

20 Exceptionally

good, informally

Previous Puzzle’s Solution

23 Slated

26 2015 Best Picture

nominee

27 Region including

eastern Turkey

and northern Iraq

31 “We R Who

We R” singer

35 Best Actress

winner Larson of

26-Across

36 Bud

37 Court employee

38 Fashionable

monogram

39 Butterfly that

resembles the

monarch

41 Dinghy thingy

42 A’s manager Bob

44 Saturn model

45 At a red light,

perhaps

46 Newark’s county

47 Its call sign is

“Shamrock”

49 It holds the line

51 Underground

chamber

52 Dam on the

Columbia River

57 Be unfair?

58 “Ninotchka” star

59 “Super Trouper”

group

63 Menswear

brand

64 Equipment

for modern

pentathletes

65 Mobile home?

66 Not-yet-bug-free

version

67 Wear

68 Visibility reducer

Down

1 Nada

2 Rite answer

3 Not gross

4 Small fall

5 Priest of the East

6 Apple variety

7 Connection

8 Awayfromthe

prow

9 “Cuchi-cuchi has

taken me all the

way to the bank”

speaker

10 Monopoly

property next to

Pennsylvania

Railroad

11 California

congressman

Swalwell

12 Wild game

setting

13 Adult kit

21 Tech school near

SUNY Albany

22 Far from serious

23 “I have no

objections”

24 Patient tenders

25 Grasshopper

sounds

28 Quark property

29 The middle X

of XXX

30 Nonprescription

naproxen

32 Dull and

uninspired

33 Get better

34 Run in

37 Book after Hosea

39 Dancer’s

teammate

40 Play that

premiered in

Prague in 1921

43 Roofed porch

45 Nearby

47 Creator of Lower

Slobbovia

48 Bucket filler

50 Cube’s dozen

52 Steady look

53 Prison problem

54 Two-tone

sandwich

55 Company

whose work is

picking up

56 Directionless?

57 Kid

60 Savage X Fenty

product

61 Domain name

ender

62 Fin face

s

Email your answer—in the subject line—[email protected]

by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time Sunday, August 11. A solver selected at random

will win a WSJ mug. Last week’s winner: Troy Stephens, Pittsboro, NC.

Complete contest rules atWSJ.com/Puzzles. (No purchase necessary.

Void where prohibited. U.S. residents 18 and over only.)

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