Hill 338, which just opened in Israeli theaters, is billed as a tribute to the beloved classic Halfon Hill Doesn’t Answer by Assi Dayan, which came out 50 years ago, rather than as a remake or a sequel.
How much you like the new movie may depend on how you felt about Halfon Hill.
The original is lauded nostalgically today but may not be the greatest experience to sit through if you did not grow up with it. Like many Israeli films of that era, it has moments of great shtick, sandwiched in between scenes of slapstick comedy and sentimental plotlines that have not all aged that well.
The most cherished element of the original is its cast, which featured the iconic Hagashash Hahiver (the Pale Tracker) comedy trio – Shaike Levi, Yisrael “Poli” Poliakov, and Gavri Banai.
Fans will be pleased to learn that Shaike Levi makes a brief appearance in the new film reprising his role and utters a version of one of the earlier film’s catchphrases, and that Yael Poliakov, the daughter of the late Poli, has a leading role, playing Maggie, the commander of the godforsaken desert army base, this time located not in the Sinai but near the Jordanian border.
'Hill 338' balances modern twists with nostalgia for the original
Lior Dayan, the son of the late Assi Dayan, is one of the writers on this movie, which was directed by Erez Ben Harush, and the writers have made sure there are many nods to the original in the new film, including the music and scenes that closely replicate moments from the first film.
All of this will make fans of the original nod in recognition, but obviously will not strike the same chord with those who do not remember Halfon Hill.
Hill 338 updates its source material in ways that are often clever, as it attempts to create a nostalgia-fest and function as a contemporary comedy at the same time. Viewers should keep in mind the ethos of Halfon Hill while watching it, because it works best when you see this rundown, inefficient base as a metaphor for Israel, with all its quirks and problems.
For some, there may be moments when it is difficult to laugh at how poorly the base is run, in light of how quickly several bases in the South were overrun by terrorists on October 7.
Hill 338 gets going when a high-level commander (Tal Friedman) at military headquarters in Tel Aviv – who is manic and has trouble controlling his prosthetic arm, a clear reference to the title character in Dr. Strangelove – calls in a young officer, Ran (Avraham Arenson), who is preparing for his upcoming wedding, and orders him to close a desert base that does nothing anymore, but which is considered home by its staff.
This commander’s eccentricities are meant to evoke laughs, and there are jokes about his prosthesis, which may not be as funny as they would have been before 2023, given the number of soldiers who have lost limbs in combat over the last few years.
Ran hurries off to the base, where he meets its madcap staff, which represents a cross section of Israeli life: two blasé but brilliant reservists who guard the entrance; the blunt but endearingly unpretentious commander, Maggie (Yael Poliakov), who is having a baby via a Russian surrogate; an animal-loving Russian soldier; an Ethiopian soldier; a group of Bedouin scouts who have been joined by a Jew (Uri Gottlieb), who feels like a Bedouin; Menahem (Gal Linker), a religious soldier with Down syndrome who runs the commissary and turns out to have sharper powers of observation than any other soldier on the base; a trans soldier who is accepted by all and who serves organic produce in the cafeteria; and a few other oddball characters.
Amit (Kim Or Azulay), Ran’s childhood sweetheart, is there, too, and soon her father (Eli Yatzpan, in his first major film role in years) joins them. His building has collapsed, and he needs a place to crash. It is he who carries the spirit of the previous film the most, as he becomes a confidant to most of the base.
He also gets involved in the scheme that drives the plot. It turns out that a reservist (Shahar Hason) is running a livestream from the base’s secret bunker, where he sells Bitcoin, with Maggie’s approval, which pulls the story into the 21st century.
The other plotline is that the base is not being closed because of a real military reorganization, but because it has been sold to a Chinese corporation.
Confusing army acronyms fuel the film’s humor
There are a lot of army jokes, particularly about the acronyms that no one can seem to keep track of, and the acronym for Ran’s position in KAFKA, a dig at military bureaucracy.
There is also plenty of politically incorrect and gross-out humor, which is probably why the movie is being released in the heat of August.
But the movie is sensitive to the character of Menahem, the disabled soldier, and even gives him the lines that articulate the movie’s message about loyalty and sticking together.
Those who are curious about the movie but are on the fence about seeing it might want to take a look at the original movie, clips from which are widely available on YouTube, or even rent the first film from the Israel Film Archive.
If the prospect of seeing the film’s atmosphere transferred to a new era appeals to you, then give it a try. Otherwise, just watch the clips of Halfon Hill Doesn’t Answer again.