Prominent for being the first feature film to ever be produced in Israel, Hill 24 Doesn’t Answer is a decent enough wartime movie based on the Palestine War. It tells the story of a group of soldiers who are assigned to defend the titular Hill 24 and, on their way there, they share wartime stories which are told in the style of flashbacks.
The flashbacks are essentially the meat of the film, making it almost anthological in its structure. Edward Mulhare’s police officer, James Finnegan, has the most fleshed out backstory. Part of a detail rounding up illegal immigrants, Finnegan stumbles across a wounded man by the name of Berger (who laters becomes the very Captain who assigns the team to Hill 24 and portrayed by Michael Shillo) and a woman named Miriam (Ben-Hur’s Haya Harareet) - a woman who Finnegan falls in love with.
The rest of his flashback centers on him being assigned to capture Berger and his eventual romantic affair with Miriam. The other flashbacks are much shorter, but offer a more action-driven approach. Alan Goodman (Michael Wager) and Ester Hadassi’s (Margalit Oved) stories intertwine - Goodman is injured in a skirmish and Hadassi is the nurse who ends up treating him. The final flashback belongs to David Airam (Arik LAvie), who details a recent encounter with a Nazi in the desert. The flashbacks are interesting narrative devices, but only half of the stories are relevant or interesting. The result is a random selection of stories all tied into a final battle that is only glanced upon. Score: 52/100