Blaumilch Canal
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Blaumilch Canal (international release title: The Big Dig): a 1969 Israeli comedy directed by Ephraim Kishon, which depicts the madness of bureaucracy through a municipality’s reaction to the actions of a lunatic.
[edit] 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 municipality’s 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.
[edit] Cast:
- Bomba Tzur as Blaumilch
- Nissim Azikri as 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
[edit] Production notes
Blaumilch Canal was the largest Israeli movie production at the time it was made. Tel Aviv’s Allenby Street was reconstructed in Herzelia Studios, as well as a 100 foot long canal. The cast consisted of some of the most prominent Israeli actors, as well as hundreds of extras.
