The looting of a convenience store during a missile attack on one of Israel’s major cities is the scenario around which Elad Larom’s Looting revolves. A moving camera follows the journey of two men carrying large bags, with war sirens and missile strikes occasionally heard in the background.
The youngsters seek to loot food during a time of general anarchy and system breakdown, following a wartime catastrophe. A security guard and a cashier try to stop them and fail, as the two move into different aisles, aggressively grabbing foodstuff from the shelves, shoving them into their bags while pushing aside their rivals. The protagonists’ condition is one of survival, but also an ecstatic one; full of horror, but also of the sick pleasure of breaking loose and violating all rules. They seem to be grateful for the ability to follow their desires and sense of anarchy. Focusing on the act of looting, a symbol of chaotic breakdown, and a familiar feature of crisis states and disaster areas—and associating it with the Israeli urban landscape and its familiar consumer products, generates a sense of collapse: a materialization of the ultimate Israeli fear of the existential threat to its survival. The justification of all our fears is finally turned real.
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