Our Boys (miniseries)

Our Boys
Genre
Created by
Starring
Country of originUnited States
Israel
Original languagesHebrew and Arabic
No. of episodes10
Production
Executive producers
Production companies
Original release
NetworkHBO
ReleaseAugust 12 (2019-08-12) –
October 7, 2019 (2019-10-07)

Our Boys (Hebrew: הנערים, Arabic: فتیان) is an American-Israeli television miniseries created by Hagai Levi, Joseph Cedar and Tawfik Abu-Wael. It focuses on the kidnapping and murder of Mohammed Abu Khdeir, it's investigation and the aftermath.[1]

It stars Shlomi Elkabetz, Jony Arbid, Adam Gabay, Or Ben-Melech, Ruba Blal Asfour, Eyal Shikartzi, Lior Ashkenazi and Noa Koler.

The ten episodes premiered in the United States on August 12, 2019, on HBO.[2] It is a co-production between HBO and Keshet Studios.

Premise

It follows Simon (Shlomi Elkabetz), an officer of the Shin Bet, assigned to investigate Israeli extremist cells, in the background of the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers, allegedly committed by militants of the Hamas.[3]

Meanwhile inside the West Bank, Palestinians are being harassed by Israeli settlers seeking retaliation. The Abu Khdeir family lives a somewhat peaceful life in East Jerusalem. One night during Ramadan, while waiting for his morning prayer, Mohammed Abu Khdeir (Ram Masarweh) is kidnapped and murdered by three Israeli extremists.[4]

The crime repercussions affects deeply the never-ending Israeli–Palestinian conflict, resulting in more violent confrontations between Palestinians and the Israeli forces in Jerusalem, and the 2014 Gaza War.[4]

Cast

  • Shlomi Elkabetz as Simon[5]
  • Jony Arbid as Hussein Abu Khdeir
  • Ruba Blal Asfour as Suha Abu Khdeir
  • Adam Gabay as Avishay Elbaz
  • Or Ben-Melech as Yosef Haim Ben-David
  • Eyal Shikartzi as Yinon Edri
  • Lior Ashkenazi as State Attorney deputy Uri Korb
  • Noa Koler as Devora
  • Michael Aloni as Itzik
  • Jacob Cohen as Rabbi Shalom Ben-David
  • Ram Masarweh as Mohammed Abu Khdeir[6]
  • Shadi Mar'i as Eyad Abu Khdeir
  • Yoav Rotman as Yochi Har Zahav

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal release dateU.S. viewers
(millions)
1"Chapter 1: Out of the Depth, I Cry to You"Joseph Cedar & Tawfik Abu-WaelJoseph Cedar & Tawfik Abu-WaelAugust 12, 2019 (2019-08-12)0.124[7]
2"Chapter 2: I Love Toto"Tawfik Abu-Wael & Joseph CedarJoseph Cedar & Tawfik Abu-Wael & Noah StollmanAugust 12, 2019 (2019-08-12)0.100[7]
3"Chapter 3: Two Packs of Red Next"Joseph Cedar & Tawfik Abu-WaelJoseph Cedar & Tawfik Abu-Wael & Hagai LeviAugust 19, 2019 (2019-08-19)0.140[8]
4"Chapter 4: The Dawn Martyr"Joseph Cedar & Tawfik Abu-Wael & Hagai LeviShuki Ben Naim & Hagai Levi & Tawfik Abu-WaelAugust 26, 2019 (2019-08-26)0.204[9]
5"Chapter 5: Shabbat Shalom"Joseph Cedar & Tawfik Abu-WaelShuki Ben Naim & Joseph Cedar & Hagai Levi & Tawfik Abu-WaelSeptember 2, 2019 (2019-09-02)0.198[10]
6"Chapter 6: Acceptance of Silence"Joseph Cedar & Hagai Levi & Tawfik Abu-WaelHagai Levi & Shuki Ben Naim & Tawfik Abu-WaelSeptember 9, 2019 (2019-09-09)0.153[11]
7"Chapter 7: Judging by its End"Joseph CedarYair Hizmi & Hagai LeviSeptember 16, 2019 (2019-09-16)0.099[12]
8"Chapter 8: Defendants 2 and 3"Joseph Cedar & Tawfik Abu-Wael & Hagai LeviHagai Levi & Yair Hizmi & Tawfik Abu-WaelSeptember 23, 2019 (2019-09-23)0.092[13]
9"Chapter 9: The Perfumer and the Tanner"Joseph Cedar & Tawfik Abu-WaelHagai Levi & Shuki Ben Naim & Tawfik Abu-WaelSeptember 30, 2019 (2019-09-30)0.154[14]
10"Chapter 10: A Shaft Into a Dark Tunnel"Joseph Cedar & Tawfik Abu-Wael & Hagai LeviHagai Levi & Tawfik Abu-WaelOctober 7, 2019 (2019-10-07)0.111[15]

Production

In October 2016, it was reported that HBO was creating a series on the 2014 kidnapping of 3 Israeli teens with Keshet International.[16] The series was filmed on location in Israel[17] and directed by Israeli filmmaker Joseph Cedar and Palestinian writer and director Tawfik Abu Wael, who also co-created the series alongside showrunner Hagai Levi.[18]

Reception

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 92% approval rating with an average score of 7/10, based on 12 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Challenging and thoughtful, Our Boys explores a real-world tragedy with grace and compassion."[19] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 79 out of 100 based on eight critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[20]

120 bereaved Israeli families sent a letter to HBO protesting the series, claiming that the show largely glosses over the murder of the three Israeli teens,[21] and that there is a systemic difference in the societal treatment and acceptance of terrorism between Israelis and Palestinians. They demanded that HBO clarify that Palestinian terrorism is much more prevalent than Jewish terrorism. HBO declined to comply with the request.[22]

Awards and nominations

The series won 14 Israeli Academy Awards[23] including Best Drama Series Award, Best Actor for Johnny Arbid, Best Actress for Ruba Blal Asfour, Best Photography for Yaron Scharf, plus Best Direction and Best Screenplay for Hagai Levi, Joseph Cedar and Tawfik Abu Wael. Our Boys has also received nominations in the Entertainment category of the 2020 Peabody Awards[24] and in the Foreign language category of the 2020 Multi-Ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC) Vision Awards.

Controversies

The critical issue that the series depicts sparked an emotional stir in the Palestinian Territories, and received extensive backlash from Israel. The story of a teenager, Muhammad Abu Khdeir, who was killed in 2014 brought back painful memories of the Palestinians and his family. Abu Khdeir's mother, Suha, said that the series brought her back to the day her son was kidnapped. "I wish I could reach into the screen and grab hold of my son," she said.

Benjamin Netanyahu's son, Yair Netanyahu, argued that the series skewed reality and damaged Israel's image. He wrote on Twitter, "The series tells the whole world how the Israelis and Jews are cruel and bloodthirsty murderers, and how the Palestinians are badly done by and oppressed."[25]

Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the series "antisemitic" and called to boycott its co-producing Israeli channel 12. His criticism of the series was accompanied by other remarks towards the network after Netanyahu tried to stop its news department from airing leaked quotes from a legal investigation of his own suspected corruption, earlier the same day.[26]

References

  1. ^ Bahr, Robyn (August 9, 2019). "'Our Boys': TV Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  2. ^ Petski, Denise (June 20, 2019). "'Our Boys' Limited Drama Series Gets Premiere Date On HBO". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
  3. ^ Riesman, Abraham (August 12, 2019). "How Our Boys Painstakingly Re-creates an Israeli-Palestinian Tragedy". www.vulture.com. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  4. ^ a b Lowry, Brian (August 12, 2019). "'Our Boys' powerfully puts faces on Israeli-Palestinian conflict". CNN. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  5. ^ "Our Boys Cast". HBO. Archived from the original on August 21, 2019. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
  6. ^ "Inside the Complicated Israeli-Palestinian Writing Team Behind HBO's Our Boys". Vanity Fair. August 12, 2019.
  7. ^ a b Metcalf, Mitch (August 13, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 8.12.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on August 13, 2019. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  8. ^ Metcalf, Mitch (August 20, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 8.19.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on August 20, 2019. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
  9. ^ Metcalf, Mitch (August 27, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 8.26.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on August 27, 2019. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
  10. ^ Metcalf, Mitch (September 4, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 9.2.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on September 4, 2019. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
  11. ^ Metcalf, Mitch (September 11, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 9.9.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on September 13, 2019. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
  12. ^ Metcalf, Mitch (September 17, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 9.16.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on September 20, 2019. Retrieved September 17, 2019.
  13. ^ Metcalf, Mitch (September 24, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 9.23.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on September 24, 2019. Retrieved September 24, 2019.
  14. ^ Metcalf, Mitch (October 1, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 9.30.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on October 1, 2019. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  15. ^ Metcalf, Mitch (October 8, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 10.7.2019". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on October 8, 2019. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  16. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (October 5, 2016). "HBO Orders Drama Series From Keshet & Hagai Levi To Film In Israel With Michael Lombardo Producing". Deadline.
  17. ^ "HBO show to tell story of 2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teens". Ynetnews. June 10, 2016.
  18. ^ "HBO to create show on 2014 kidnapping of 3 Israeli teens". The Times of Israel.
  19. ^ "Our Boys: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes (Fandango Media). Retrieved September 4, 2019.
  20. ^ "Our Boys Reviews". Metacritic (CBS Interactive). Retrieved August 21, 2019.
  21. ^ "Emotions stir in Jerusalem as HBO's 'Our Boys' hits local airwaves". Reuters. August 20, 2019.
  22. ^ "HBO's 'Our Boys' sparks anger among bereaved Israeli families for downplaying Palestinian terror". WIN. August 16, 2019.
  23. ^ "Our Boys wins big at Israeli Academy of Film and Television Awards".
  24. ^ "Peabody Awards: 'American Factory,' 'Dickinson,' 'Watchmen' Among Nominees". The Hollywood Reporter. May 6, 2020.
  25. ^ Amir, Gal (August 30, 2019). "HBO's Our Boys Series - Anti Israel Propaganda or Harsh Reality". The Eastern Herald. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
  26. ^ "Netanyahu calls for boycott of Israeli TV channel over 'anti-Semitic' series". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 31, 2019.
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