Common Sense Media Review
By Brian Costello
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
War violence, language in moving historical drama.
Parents Need to Know
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Image of Victory
What's the Story?
In IMAGE OF VICTORY, Hassanin (Amir Khoury) reflects on his time as an idealistic journalist in Cairo in 1948. He's sent to help film the fighting between an Egyptian platoon and the newly arrived Jewish citizens of a fledgling kibbutz called Nitzanim. Eager to make newsreel footage filled with the patriotic fervor of his hero Frank Capra, Hassanin soon learns that war isn't so simple. On the Israeli side, Mira (Joy Rieger) is an independent woman working with other new arrivals and survivors of the horrors of World War II. As they learn to defend themselves from the farmers they displaced after buying the land from the original land owners, they must find a way to stop an army as Israel declares its independence while surrounded by countries that don't recognize that independence and regard the Israelis' arrival as an act of war. The film footage that Hassanin sends back of the Egyptian army losing to the Israelis isn't what the Egyptian government or the generals had in mind, and while that footage is destroyed, Hassanin and the platoon he has been filming are ordered to secure a victory at all costs and to film it as propaganda for the Egyptian people.
Is It Any Good?
This is a deeply moving historical drama set in the earliest days of a conflict that would simmer and rage for decades to come. Against the backdrop of the first battles fought between Egyptian and Israeli forces shortly before and after Israel declared independence in 1948, Image of Victory employs an incredibly rich and talented ensemble cast to present the lives of those who lived and eventually fought in battles over a fledgling kibbutz populated by men and women who had just escaped the horrors of World War II only to find that they must fight a new battle.
As the two narratives unfold -- one about an ambitious young Egyptian filmmaker sent to make propaganda newsreels for the Egyptian government to prop up a vain king, and the other about the struggles of the new arrivals of a kibbutz to make it self-sufficient as they learn how to defend themselves from those who consider the land they're living on to be stolen -- what ultimately emerges is a story of individual heroism and a collective bravery borne out of necessity. It's one of the better war movies to emerge in recent years.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the "ensemble story" of Image of Victory. How does the movie present a wide array of characters, and how does that help present a larger and more empathetic picture of the earliest days of the Arab-Israeli conflict in 1948?
How do the women in the movie show courage equal to the men's?
How does the movie show the horror of war, particularly through Hassanin's perspective and voice-overs and his evolving views as he tries to film the fighting?
Movie Details
- In theaters : December 23, 2021
- On DVD or streaming : July 15, 2022
- Cast : Joy Rieger , Amir Khoury , Ala Dakka
- Director : Avi Nesher
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Netflix
- Genre : Drama
- Topics : History
- Character Strengths : Courage
- Run time : 128 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : September 29, 2025
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