TV Verdict

Roberta Grossman (500 Nations) first wanted to tell the story of Hannah Senesh on film when she graduated from college. The story of the Jewish woman living in Palestine who parachuted into Yugoslavia and returned to Hungary on a rescue mission was one Grossman returned to throughout her life.

In 2005, she began “a great deal of back and forth” with David and Eitan Senesh, nephews of Hannah, to finally work on Blessed is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh, which makes its television debut tonight on PBS. “They have the burdensome responsibility of being bearers of Hannah Senesh’s legacy,” Grossman said in a phone interview. They also had new materials–unpublished letters and portions of Hannah’s diary, and previously unseen photos–that added to that legacy, both in the film and in historical archives afterward.

Eitan Senesh was “my partner” in the filmmaking process, Grossman said. “They cared very deeply about how Hannah was portrayed,” strengthening the film with their input. With Hannah’s story involving not just her own life, but the events of her time–Hungarian anti-Semitism, the Jewish communities in Palestine, and the parachute mission–”it was very painful deciding what to leave in and what to leave out.”

“It was an editing job, not a writing job.”

It was also a film that had to be made when she did. “It was the last possible moment to make the film with eyewitness interviews,” Grossman said, reflecting on the many interview subjects who have died since it was made and others who couldn’t be on film because of age-related memory loss or impairment. One woman, a friend of Hannah in Hungary, declined to be interviewed on camera because she feared she might have a heart attack.

Grossman said “my perspective changed completely” by the time she finally made Blessed is the Match. When she first read Hannah’s story, “I was an idealistic, searching young person reading another idealistic, searching young person’s diary.” Later, “things became less black-and-white, more in the gray areas.”

“The biggest change is that, by the time I was able to make the movie, I was a mother.” She admired the strength of Hannah’s character, sense of purpose, and commitment to righting wrongs, as well as Hannah’s appreciation for the beauty of the world and for literature, but Grossman was now seeing the story through a mother’s eyes. Thus, the central theme of her narrative is that of “a mother-daughter love story,” Grossman said. Heroes and heroines can “become boring in their zealousness. Watching the mother made it compelling.”

“I would be proud if she was my daughter–but I wouldn’t want my daughter to parachute behind enemy lines in Yugoslavia.”

Grossman has seen mothers and daughters in audiences watching the film together. “People were very, very moved. The film has won awards at eleven or thirteen Jewish film festivals.”

The film “humanized Hannah,” Grossman said. “You get to know her not as a heroine on a pedestal but as a girl. It has provided an emotional point of access for the audience.”

In making Blessed is the Match, Grossman relied on original sources. Not just Hannah’s diary, but also the memoirs of her mother Catherine, letters between Catherine and her brother and mother, and the words of Yoel Palgi, one of Hannah’s fellow participants in the parachute mission. Everything in the narration came from these primary sources.

A scholar in Israel worked with the family, “contacting every person the family had ever been in contact with.” Extensive pre-interviews led to a handful of interviews used in the film.

In Hungary, a scholar not only talked to Hannah’s friends and classmates, but vetted the props and costumes for the re-enactments, based mainly on Catherine’s memoirs, seen throughout the movie. The Hungarian prison where Hannah and her mother were held after Hannah’s capture is still operating. This helped create an authentic film, even though Grossman could not film in the actual prison.

“It’s the accomplishment of a lifetime. I’m grateful I had the opportunity to tell Hannah Senesh’s story.”

If viewers want to learn more about Hannah Senesh, Grossman said the best source of information is Hannah’s diary, which was published in an edition with Catherine Senesh’s memoirs. She also recommends Peter Hay’s Hannah Senesh and the Dream of Zion.

The film premieres on Independent Lens on PBS April 13, with upcoming chances to see it on a larger screen at Drew University’s Center for Holocaust/Genocide Study in Madison, New Jersey (April 14); Rosh Hodesh, Broomfield, New Jersey (April 15); Central New Jersey JCC Bonus Film Series (April 29); and the Metro Detroit Jewish Film Festival (May 6). Read more about the movie at the official Web site.

Be sure to read Jim’s DVD Verdict review of Blessed is the Match.