Sallah Shabati (1964)

Original title

סאלח שבתי

Directed by

Ephraim Kishon

Genre

comedy film

Country

Israel

Runtime

1h 38m

Rating

6.8 of 10 from 16 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A satirical comedy about an immigrant arriving in Israel with his large family. The film follows his struggles and misunderstandings as he tries to find housing and a job.

comedicsatiricallight-heartedbittersweetchaoticsocially awarewry

What happens

Sallah Shabati (Hebrew: סאלח שבתי) is a 1964 Israeli comedy film about the chaos of Israeli immigration and resettlement, as well as the issues Mizrahi Jews faced in the developing Israeli society. This social satire placed the director Ephraim Kishon and producer Menahem Golan among the first Israeli filmmakers to achieve international success. It also introduced to audiences to actor Chaim Topol, who would later achieve even greater recognition with the 1971 American period musical film Fiddler on the Roof. The protagonist's name, Sallah Shabati, is perhaps a play on the phrase סליחה שבאתי, Sliḥa she'bati, "I apologise for coming/I regret coming here". In earlier print versions of Kishon's short stories which were revised for the film, the character was known as Saadia Shabtai. This is the first Israeli film to be nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film and the first to win the Golden Globe award for best Foreign Film. Later, it was also produced as a musical. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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