{"id":15979,"date":"2011-11-21T07:17:59","date_gmt":"2011-11-21T14:17:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/?p=15979"},"modified":"2011-11-22T13:07:56","modified_gmt":"2011-11-22T20:07:56","slug":"playoff-premiere-honors-legendary-coach-ralph-klein","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/?p=15979","title":{"rendered":"Playoff Premiere Honors Legendary Coach Ralph Klein"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Danny Huston with Ruti and Rinat Klein\/Photo: Elizur Reuveni<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ralph Klein and Maccabi Tel Aviv ignited the hearts and imagination of an entire country with their 1977 win against CSKA Moscow (at a time when Israel and the former Soviet Union did not have diplomatic relations), that led to Israel\u2019s first ever European title. It was a defining moment in Israeli history, a true celebration of talent, intelligence, skill and perseverance.<\/p>\n

Inspired by the life of legendary coach Ralph Klein z\u201dl (1931 \u2013 2008), Director Eran Riklis\u2019 new film Playoff<\/em> premiered last night in the presence of the film\u2019s star Danny Huston, and the stars of Maccabi Tel Aviv who came to honor Klein\u2019s memory, together with Klein’s family, friends and admirers. Riklis said he felt drawn to the project from the first, \u201cThis story came to me, a man like Ralph, a national icon who took Maccabi Tel Aviv to an historic championship and on the other hand bore the burden of a secret that is somewhat dark, a Holocaust survivor who lost his father and returned twenty years later to coach the German team. Wow! That\u2019s Hollywood!\u201d Riklis worked with writers Gidi Maron and David Akerman to write a script based on Klein\u2019s life, that \u201cgoes into the soul of the character\u201d yet maintains a creative freedom, with its own dramatic narrative.<\/p>\n

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Danny Huston and Eran Riklis at the premiere of Playoff\/Photo: Elizur Reuveni<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI met with Ralph twice, to my regret it was very close to his death. He was an intelligent, somewhat cynical man with a wise perspective on life he\u2019d say things like he wanted Arnold Schwartzenegger to play him and things like that\u2026and I promised, of course,\u201d Riklis said with a smile, \u201cHe understood that the film would respect him and on the other hand that it would move beyond the literal story of his life to tell a dramatic story because the film has a life of its own.\u201d<\/p>\n

The film focuses on an unusual chapter in Klein\u2019s career: after leading Maccabi Tel Aviv through several impressive seasons, including two European championships, Klein accepted an invitation to coach the German national team in 1983. This decision generated surprise and speculation at the time, and is the point of departure for Playoff<\/em>, imaginatively exploring the reasons a Holocaust survivor born in Berlin might have for returning to Germany, and his experiences in returning to the landscape of his childhood memories. Riklis recalled a poignant moment in his conversations with Klein, \u201cIt was a very dramatic moment, talking to a man who you realize will not be long with us, it was a strange feeling. Suddenly, he said \u2018I have done many things in my life and I don\u2019t regret anything, but there is one thing that I regret \u2013 that I went to Germany to coach the team.\u2019 And I said: \u2018Hey Ralph, can you tell me\u2019\u2026and I felt that this<\/em> is the story, but he didn\u2019t want to talk about it anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Premiere of Playoff in Israel\/Photo: Elizur Reuveni<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Although sadly, Ralph Klein did not live to see the film inspired by his life and career, his presence was deeply felt last night in the minds and hearts of those who knew him as they looked forward to seeing the film. \u201cRalph was a guy that all the players loved playing for,\u201d said Tal Brody, \u201cI know Ralph from the beginning of his history [as a coach]. When I first came to Israel he was assistant coach to Yehoshua Rosen. In 1977 we won the European title for the first time quite an historic event and on the way we had to beat the Russian team – which was a great Russian team, with seven of their top players that beat the American team in the \u201873 Olympics. It was a tough game and very few people thought that we can do it – and we did it, and then went on to take the European championship for the first time for Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI met Ralph Klein when I was 14 years old,\u201d said Miki Berkovich, \u201che took me as a young kid with a lot a lot of talent, but with my talent and his help I achieved all my dreams. I\u2019m happy that a lot of people give the respect and honor to Ralph Klein now, three years after he passed away, and I hope the movie will be the same as his life. Ralph Klein was my tutor, my father in basketball, in sports. He gave me the Bible – how to behave, how to work, and how to achieve, and I can say that I was lucky that I had Ralph Klein around me for almost twenty years.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Aulcie Perry, Tal Brody and Moti Aroesti\/Photo: Elizur Reuveni<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Talking to former Maccabi players, it is evident that through his coaching, Klein\u2019s influence extended well beyond the basketball court, having a formative impact on their lives as individuals. Aulcie Perry said, \u201cI have great memories. He was one of the best coaches that I played for; he was very special to me because he gave me my chance. He gave me the opportunity to really excel and to play basketball at a very high level. This is something that I will take with me until my last breath. I\u2019m really thankful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet not only Maccabi Tel Aviv players have fond memories of Klein. Sportscaster and former HaPoel Tel Aviv player Shimon Amsalem said, \u201cNot many people know this, but Ralph was a very funny guy. He had lots of funny stories and he was a very warm person, very affectionate, very positive, always positive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe and I shared a common love,\u201d said singer Yehuda Elias, \u201ca love of watches. Once I wanted to buy a watch and he wanted the same watch. We argued a bit in the store over who would buy it, and finally I told the salesperson: \u2018You know what, give him the watch, I respect the man and love him\u2026but wait and see, this watch will be mine.\u2019 The salesperson asked: \u2018How can you know that?\u2019 I said: \u2018Just wait two or three days.\u2019 Later Ralph returned the watch and exchanged it for another and I bought the watch and have it to this day.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Playoff Premiere in Israel\/Photo: Elizur Reuveni<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A generation of Israelis will always remember where they were on the night of the famous win against CSKA, and Ralph Klein played an important role in Israeli cultural history, but it is in speaking to those who worked and played with him, that the sense of gratitude and loss is palpable. \u201cI have many memories of Ralph,\u201d said Moti Aroesti, \u201cthe road we travelled together was a long one\u2026when I look at the man and all that he devoted \u2013 to me personally and to the team\u2026so much\u2026it was tremendous, I got so much from him. How to look at life, not just basket ball\u2026how to talk \u2013 everything\u2026he was my mentor, my coach, he was a man\u2026sometimes I saw more of him than my own father. He was a fascinating person. It\u2019s hard for me to speak of him in the past tense, but God gave me something purely good, to have a coach like him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Playoff, directed by Eran Riklis and starring Danny Huston, will be released in Israeli theatres on November 24, 2011.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ralph Klein and Maccabi Tel Aviv ignited the hearts and imagination of an entire country with their 1977 win against CSKA Moscow (at a time when Israel and the former Soviet Union did not have diplomatic relations), that led to Israel\u2019s first ever European title. It was a defining moment in Israeli history, a true […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-film"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15979"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15979\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}