Celia Gurevitch Jewish Community Library

Reviewed by S Miller
Yellow Asphalt, a Film by Danny Verete, is startling story of how western culture infiltrates the Judean desert, once home of the Bedouin tribes. The desert story depicts scenes where Israeli and Bedouin converge. There are three main sub themes happening: an accident on the highway by a Israeli petroleum truck, a frightful marriage between a German woman and her Bedouin husband and lastly a forbidden love affair between an Israeli and his Bedouin maid.

The filmmaker shoots on location with the participation of the Bedouin tribe “Jahalin”. Seeing this film is disappointing as it shows the true human condition and their weaknesses. Most of the Israeli main actors are depicted with their dark side. I don’t want to give the movie away, but ‘Yellow Asphalt’ is a metaphor for placing a highspeed highway where it does not belong. The Highway’s link to modern civilization changes the livelihood of the Israeli’s who live in the desert, but more the culture of the Bedouins. The audience is given a glimpse of how Bedouin society is governed, the role of women and tight grip of their culture in spite of living side by side to a western culture. The movie is shocking, but has an important story to be told.