Big Dig

This 1969 Golden Globe-nominated comedy from prolific Israeli director Efraim Kishon revolves around an obsessive escapee from a psychiatric hospital (played by burly comic Yosef “Bomba” Tzur), who steals a jackhammer and begins tearing up one of Tel Aviv's busiest intersections, much to the consternation of neighbors, who want the noise stopped. But the local cop, assuming that the laconic man is part of the city road crew, offers him protection, while incompetent government officials at loggerheads with one another idiotically provide additional workers for the so-called “improvement project,” which threatens to flood the neighborhood as the ever-growing hole approaches the sea. Big Dig is extremely funny for the first 20 minutes or so, and while it loses steam on the way towards a flamboyant finish, the film is reasonably amusing, and the satirical treatment of governmental inefficiency generates solid laughs. Although technically modest, the simplicity actually suits Big Dig's story of middle-class Israeli life in the 1960s. DVD extras include a fine documentary tribute to Kishon's career. Recommended. (F. Swietek)