Kazablan

Menachem Golan, the flamboyant Israeli entrepreneur who went on to found Cannon Films (which specialized in cheap exploitation movies during the 1980s), made this bizarre 1973 musical—a weird amalgam of Fiddler on the Roof and West Side Story, with a bit of Hair thrown into the mix for good measure. The setting is a depressed Jaffa neighborhood slated for demolition, where Ashkenazi locals are irritated by a street gang of Sephardi layabouts led by Kazablan (Yehoram Gaon), who is enamored of pretty Rachel (Efrat Lavi). But Rachel's father finds Kazablan unacceptable as a prospective son-in-law, despite the fact that the only alternative appears to be a sleazy shoemaker. All turns out well—Kazablan emerges as a war hero, and in a big finale all the residents bond together to rehabilitate the area and avoid deportation—but the story has a distinctly derivative feel (even down to the Tevye-like fisherman who periodically kvetches directly to the audience about his lot), the songs are mediocre, and the dance sequences are highly athletic but too long. DVD extras include two concert excerpts featuring Gaon, and a retrospective “making-of” featurette (unfortunately, not subtitled). Optional. (F. Swietek)