TV week: New doc. on Sderot police station, Springsteen on Disney+

The police station in Sderot was destroyed in order to save it, to borrow an expression from the Vietnam War that seems apt. A new documentary, The Battle for Sderot, which will air on October 27 on KAN 11 at 9:30 p.m. (and which will be available on kan.org.il), focuses on this incident.

The station was bombed and razed a day after it was overrun by terrorists on October 7, so the documentary makers created a meticulously detailed, dollhouse-size model to tell its story.

There are many stories from October 7 that are harrowing and upsetting, and one of the most disheartening is the story of the speed and savagery that this obvious symbol of state power was taken over. 

While it makes sense that the security at the Supernova festival was inadequate in the face of thousands of heavily armed terrorists, it’s more than disconcerting to see how poorly prepared the police at the station were, although to be fair they had not been warned to expect anything other than a sleepy holiday weekend. 

About 30 police officers and civilians were killed by Hamas terrorists there, and the police fought heroically for a day to regain control of the station.

When police officer Aviad Akko called his commanders to report that there were terrorists inside the station and asked for reinforcements, he repeated his request three times – because he thought people hearing it would think it was just a drill, it sounded so unbelievable to him.

EVERY OFFICER there had a unique experience, and the surviving officers’ stories are riveting. 

Many officers left their homes and synagogues to rush to the station when they learned of the attack. 

Some of the stories they tell are famous. Rami Cohen, one of the officers, saw a car stopped and went to investigate under heavy fire; inside it he found two sisters, ages three and six, who had survived by hiding on the floor as the terrorists killed their mother. 

Amer Odeh Abu Sabila, a Bedouin construction worker who jumped into the car to try to save them after their father was killed, was also shot to death. 

The cries of the six-year-old, who begged for help and was afraid that the police were also with Hamas, were captured on a shocking video, which is shown here. Cohen was shot and almost killed aiding their rescue.

One chilling story that I’ve never heard is told by police officer Bat Mansuri, who worked a shift the night before the attack and headed back when it began. 

The evening before, she said, a woman dressed in the garb of the religiously observant was found in the street, totally drunk. She wouldn’t cooperate with the police and cursed them, saying, “You’re all going to die, everything will be black.”

At the end of the film, the surviving officers, some on crutches due to injuries they sustained in the attack, get to look at the station model. 

They walk around it, fascinated to look at the building they worked in for years, which no longer exists. It’s a story well worth telling, but difficult to watch.

‘Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’ – Disney+

If you’d like to watch something more joyful, try Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, which becomes available on Disney+ on October 25. 

It’s not exactly a concert movie, but a concerts movie – a look at the band’s recent world tour. It highlights surviving members who have been with him for decades, such as guitarist and mandolin player Steven Van Zandt (who played Sil on The Sopranos), and musicians who have joined more recently, including singer Curtis King Jr. and percussionist Anthony Almonte.

What Springsteen and his band do is the opposite of phoning it in, which some stars do to collect an easy paycheck. 

Getting back together at the tail end of the coronavirus crisis, they rehearsed intensively to make sure they still had the same spark that has made the band’s live shows legendary for 50 years. 

I attended one of the concerts on the world tour shown in the documentary – in Amsterdam in 2023 – and Springsteen’s energy and the entire band’s sound was amazing. 

Performances like that don’t just happen and the movie makes clear why. 

Springsteen knows himself and his bandmates, and for fans, it’s fascinating to see just when he decided to push them and when he knew to pull back and not ruin the spontaneity of their performances by rehearsing too much.

SPRINGSTEEN DESCRIBES how the set list reflects a message about embracing life in the face of mortality and he has added some songs as tributes to beloved band members who have died, such as saxophonist Clarence Clemons, whose sax-playing nephew Jake is now part of the band. 

Some of the songs, such as “I’ll See You in My Dreams,” are elegiac. Bruce has added a beautiful cover of the Commodores hit “Night Shift,” a tribute to Jackie Wilson and Marvin Gaye, who both died in 1984 – but as performed by Springsteen, it takes on a wider meaning.

Springsteen’s wife, singer and bandmate Patti Scialfa reveals in the movie that she is battling cancer, but she makes some appearances in the tour and in the film. 

It’s touching to see the chemistry that still exists between the long-married couple on some of Springsteen’s sexiest, most romantic songs.

I could have done without the many interviews with fans, who all say basically the same thing in different words, and their allegiance to the fan community begins to sound a little cultish.

The entire film is a mix of his early iconic songs and his later work, including songs from the post 9/11 album The Rising, such as the anthem about moving on after tragedy, “Mary’s Place.”

Anyone who enjoys Springsteen’s music will love this, and the movie will certainly boost sales for his upcoming tour.

‘Only Murders in the Building’ – Disney+

The series Only Murders in the Building, also on Disney+, is releasing new episodes every week until early November, and is well worth checking out if you’re looking for something relatively light. 

It’s about three New Yorkers at loose ends: a failed theater producer (Martin Short), an actor (Steve Martin) who starred in a cop series decades ago, and a millennial (Selena Gomez) who can’t get her life on track. 

The trio are drawn together to solve a murder in their historic New York building and create a podcast about it. It’s Seinfeld with murder, and plots revolve around such quintessentially Big Apple concerns as snagging rent-controlled apartments.

Meryl Streep has shined in the last two seasons as an actress who gets her first real break well into her 60s. 

In the current season, Hollywood decides to make a movie about their podcast and the satire of the movie business works well. 

As the season moves toward its end, plans for a wedding are underway. No spoilers, but if you know the series you can guess who the bride and groom will be (the tabloids say the actors are involved in a real-life romance).

‘Mamma Mia!’ – Netflix and Apple TV+

Streep lights up the small screen so beautifully in Only Murders that you may want to catch her in something even lighter – like Mamma Mia!, which is available on Netflix and Apple TV+. 

An adaptation of the hit musical based on ABBA songs, Streep sings and dances as a guesthouse owner on a Greek island whose daughter (Amanda Seyfried) is coming home for her wedding. 

The daughter wants to find out which of her mother’s former lovers (Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgard, and Pierce Brosnan) is her father. If you like ABBA and Streep, this is the movie for you.