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Blaumilch Canal
Found in: Israeli films
Blaumilch Canal : a 1969 Israeli comedy directed by Ephraim Kishon, which depicts the madness of bureaucracy through a municipalitys reaction to the actions of a lunatic.
Plot summary
A lunatic (Blaumilch) escapes from an asylum and then steals a jackhammer and proceeds to open up a main street and traffic artery in Tel Aviv (Allenby Street). Rather than question his actions, the police, as well as city officials, assumes he is operating under the municipalitys orders and aid him as much as they can. Complaints from local residents, whose lives become a living hell due to the noise and traffic jams, lead to infighting amongst city departments. To hurry up the work before the elections, the city then sends armies of construction workers and heavy equipment to help the lone compressor, turning a mere annoyance into a disaster.
When the city realizes that they are destroying a street without any plans or goals it is too late, which leads to the connection of Allenby Street with the Mediterranean Sea and the creation of a canal. The mayor then declares in a flamboyant opening ceremony that Tel Aviv has been turned into the Venice of the Middle East. The lone citizen who realizes that the 'project' was the work of a lunatic, is laughed at, and branded a lunatic himself.
In the final scene, Blaumilch is seen digging up the Kings of Israel Square near Tel Aviv's municipality building.
Cast:
Bomba Tzur as Blaumilch
Nissim Azikri as Yehezkel Ziegler
Shraga Friedman as Dr. Avigdor Kooiybishevsky
Gideon Singer as Police Chief Levkowicz
Shaike Ophir as the police officer
Mosko Alkalai as Schultheiss
Reuven Bar-Yotam as Foreman
Production notes
Blaumilch Canal was the largest Israeli movie production at the time it was made. Tel Avivs Allenby Street was reconstructed in Herzelia Studios, as well as a long canal. The cast consisted of some of the most prominent Israeli actors of the time, as well as hundreds of extras.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Blaumilch Canal