FILM
GOLDA
HELEN MIRREN GOES FROM THE QUEEN TO THE PRIME MINISTER (OF ISRAEL)
She was fuming.
★★★
OUT 6 OCTOBER / CERT 12A / 100 MINS
DIRECTOR Guy Nattiv
CAST Helen Mirren, Liev Schreiber, Camille Cottin, Lior Ashkenazi
PLOT As an attack by Egyptian and Syrian forces takes her country by surprise, Israel’s Prime Minister Golda Meir (Mirren) tries to get ahead.
GETTING TO BE Prime Minister is one thing, but have you ever smoked more cigarettes than anyone else who ever lived? Golda Meir — in this film at least — unlocks both achievements. Secretly suffering from lymphoma and not doing too well, the Israeli PM (Helen Mirren) regardless smokes at every available opportunity. She inhales nicotine like it’s oxygen, chugging anytime, anywhere, everywhere. She smokes in bed, in her living-room, in cars, in her office, on the roof and just for good measure in hospital, even as she’s lying down seconds before receiving radiation treatment. She is never without a fag, frequently engulfed in a cancerous mist.