The story of controversial Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin is told with honesty and commendable precision in the latest documentary from American director Jonathan Gruber (Follow Me: The Yoni Netanyahu Story).
Imprisoned by the Soviets and later orphaned by the Holocaust, Menachem Begin carried in his heart a determination that no Jew should ever endure the persecution he and millions of others had encountered in Europe.
For most of his life, we are told, Begin had a strong belief that the Jews were alone and needed to take action alone to defend themselves from their enemies.
Upheaval presents Begin as a man of great contradictions. While his Likud party was seen by those who opposed it as a counter-revolutionary entity, the man himself was a great believer in advocating for minorities. Welcoming newly arrived North African Jews and even giving a home to Vietnamese boat people who had been rejected by most western countries, the highly determined Zionist leader saw Israel as a land of possibilities for everyone no matter their colour or creed.
