美国国家公共电台 NPR From Israel, A Hit TV Thriller Of War's Chaos — And Its Domestic Cost

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

An Israeli television series with an Arabic name that shows Israelis and Palestinians plotting against each other and themselves has become a fan favorite in 190 countries around the world, including Israel and many Arab states. "Fauda" - chaos¹, in Arabic - is now streaming its second season on Netflix in America. Lior Raz stars as Doron, an Israeli Defense² Forces undercover operative who defies³ authority, has a messy domestic⁴ life and complicates⁵ everything by both spying on and falling for a Palestinian doctor who gets married to a Hamas commander. Lior Raz, one of the co-creators of "Fauda," joins us now from New York. Thanks so much for being with us.

LIOR RAZ: Thank you. I'm really glad to be here.

SIMON: You were, according to reports, an actual undercover Israeli operative. So are you just spilling a lot of your true stories in this?

RAZ: Yeah. It's like - it's a TV show. But, yes. We wrote - me and my co-creator, Avi Issacharoff, who's the journalist - we wrote about our experience in life, some of it from the army, some of it from just real life. And, yeah. I used to be in this kind of unit when I was young in the army - in the Israeli army.

SIMON: The show doesn't excuse suicide⁶ bombers⁷ or, for that matter, brutal⁸ Israeli agents. But it does show their own lives. What's the effect of that?

RAZ: We wanted to show that it's much more than just the bad guys and the good guys. I remember that I went to the writer's room. And when we were sitting there, I said, I really want to be able and love and want to play every and each role in this show. Most of the terrorists⁹ that I saw on TV shows and movies are just the bad guys. Nothing - they didn't have kids. They didn't have families. They didn't have love. They didn't have anything.

And we wanted to show that. We wanted to show that the Israelis - they are not just the soldiers, the brutal bad soldiers. And this is why people feel compassion¹⁰ for both sides. But I can tell you that the terrorists in our show, when they go out in the streets of Israel - even in settlements - it doesn't matter where - people just want to take a selfie with him.

SIMON: (Laughter).

RAZ: They became sex symbols for Jewish and Arabs. It doesn't matter. It's like - it's crazy (laughter).

SIMON: What was it like to - I gather you filmed in Arab-Israeli village Kafr Qasim. What was that like?

RAZ: So when we started to shoot the first season, there was like - the Gaza war started. And I remember we canceled the first day of shooting because we were scared. And I think officials called us, like, at the night. And they said, listen, let's talk about coexistence.

And immediately - like, that night or day after, we came for a month and a half or two months, and we actually was there from morning until dawn until night, working in Kafr Qasim in, like, a bubble of creativity and love of Arabs and Israelis who work together because the missiles came from - oh, camps (ph) from Gaza - don't know if you are Jewish or Arab. They are just falling. So it was a crazy situation and very tense situation. But it's made the show better because of that.

SIMON: I have to ask you, as a citizen, even more than a producer or actor, if you have any reaction to recent events in which scores of Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in what was called the March of Return along the Gaza border.

RAZ: First of all, as a citizen, every person who died there - it doesn't matter. Israeli or Palestinian - it's heartbreaking. But from the other side, just imagine you have to protect yourself. And I think Israel protected herself.

SIMON: Weren't there are a lot of innocent people, though, and children certainly unarmed?

RAZ: I don't know. I know that 60 people - or something like that - got killed. And it's heartbreaking. But 50 of them were terror members of the Hamas. This is what the Hamas said. But let's talk about art.

SIMON: All right. What do you hope Americans will learn watching "Fauda"?

RAZ: I hope that they will see that there is - and not just Americans. I think everyone who is watching the show, that they have to understand that there is a price for a war. And the people on the field are paying this price if it's mental or physical price.

But also, the people who are surrounding them - their families, their friends. Everyone paying a price for the action of people who's in the battle zone. It doesn't matter if it's in Israel, if it's in Afghanistan. It doesn't matter. And the people who are there - it's much more complicated than we think.

SIMON: And what do you hope Israelis and Palestinians and people who live in Arab countries will learn by watching the show or how they'll react, respond, feel?

RAZ: I want people to - you know, what a great thing that happened in Israel because of this show that thousands of Israelis started to learn Arabic. And I think it's great. And I think it's amazing because now for a dialogue, you need to know the language of the other side. And I think this is starting a process to have a dialogue and understand that it's much more complicated.

SIMON: You know, when the series opened, season one - Doron is in the wine business. I don't think he's long for the wine business. Do I have that wrong?

RAZ: (Laughter) No. He's not good in it, not really (laughter). He's good in war. He's addicted¹¹ to adrenaline. He's addicted to his friends, his unit. He's addicted to the field. And this was - he tried to be the person who's just leaving the winery. But it was very hard for him.

SIMON: Well, then I have to ask you, Mr. Raz. I mean, "Fauda" has become a big international hit. But, I mean, is this something you have to do to keep a hand in the game, too?

RAZ: I think, you know, I did it a long time ago. And now I'm trying to settle down and do my art and act and write. And I think, for me, this is my winery.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SIMON: Lior Raz, one of the co-creators and one of the stars of "Fauda." Second season is now on Netflix. Thanks so much for being with us.

RAZ: Thank you very much.

1 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

2 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

3 defies   

不服从( defy的第三人称单数 )； 公然反抗； 蔑视； 向…挑战

参考例句：

• This defies to be explained. 这难以解释。
• His strange behaviour defies understanding. 他古怪的举止使人难以理解。

4 domestic   

adj.家里的，国内的，本国的；n.家仆，佣人

参考例句：

• This is domestic news.这是国内新闻。
• She does the domestic affairs every day.她每天都忙家务。

5 complicates   

使复杂化( complicate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• What complicates the issue is the burden of history. 历史的重负使问题复杂化了。
• Russia as a great and ambitious power gravely complicates the situation. 俄国作为一个强大而有野心的国家，使得局势异常复杂。

6 suicide   

n.自杀，自毁，自杀性行为

参考例句：

• The number of suicide has increased.自杀案件的数量增加了。
• The death was adjudged a suicide by sleeping pills.该死亡事件被判定为服用安眠药自杀。

7 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

9 terrorists   

n.恐怖主义者，恐怖分子( terrorist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The terrorists have halted their bloody campaign of violence. 恐怖分子已经停止了他们凶残的暴力活动。
• They were finally forced to capitulate to the terrorists' demands. 他们最后被迫屈从恐怖分子的要求。

10 compassion   

n.同情，怜悯

参考例句：

• He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
• Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。

11 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。