Policeman (reviewed)

Nadav Lapid’s electrifying film is a penetrating political portrait of Israel from contradictory perspectives. With the symmetry of a Rorschach test, “Policeman” first witnesses the aggressive purview of an elite anti-terrorist squad and then folds in half to observe a naive group of idealistic bourgeois anarchists. Headed for inevitable conflict, the two parts form unsettling mirror images of national identity and conviction. Lapid avoids manipulation of the scenario, instead capturing a taut reality of extremism from both the left and the right. This must-see film offers no easy answers and no pacifying conclusions, but profound insights. (107 min.) 4 out of 4 stars.