Je vais bien, ne t'en fais pas (2006)

Language:French
Director: Philippe Lioret

In total contrast to my previous attempt at movie-watching in Israel, I came across this one almost accidentally.It was playing to a near empty house in an obscure theatre, hidden inside the Tel Aviv art meuseum. Itook the ticket without even knowing the title - just ensured that there are subtitles in english too. But ended up sitting engrossed for close to 100 min. A movie with a great plot and awesome screen play. Characters change their colours right under your nose without you noticing a tiny bit. Elise ( played to near perfection by Melanie Laurent) has just returned to Paris after a brief stay in Barcelona for a course or something. Immediately on her return, she's in for a rude shock - her twin brother has split from the parents for what then seems to be a very trivial reason. They are a very attached bro-sis duo and this girl's getting increasingly edgy about his absence. He does not return .He did not leave a note for her. He doesn't return her calls. He does not try to contact any one in the family. And worse, the father does not seem to care. And nobody seems to tell her the truth about the reason why he left. Finally, the girl loses it and ends up in a solitary psychiatric hospital ward, being fed forcefully. When every one has lost the hope, the brother finally gets in touch. He's been drifting and is moving from place to place in some western european towns. However, he leaves a hint about the reason for his absence. In his letter, he criticizes his father refering to him as a creep. But the letter does improve the girl's situation and she slowly gets back to life. She leaves school and starts working in a super market. She still is worried about her bro and why he doesn't want to see her.And she's still puzzled about his absence. However, the letters she recieves from him (without a return address, and each one from a new city) are cheerful. And all of them end with an accusatory note on their dad. Then the story takes dramatic but subtle turns and finally a touching ending. Great cinematography and brilliant direction. EXCELLENT performances. And great music score in the background.

9/10

Aviva Ahuvati (Aviva, My love2005)

Language: werbeH er.. Hebrew ;-)
Director: Shemi Zarhin
I tried to search for the titles of some good Israeli films but it wasn't too easy considering most Israeli sites are in hebrew.I did come across this one, which seems to have won a bunch of awards. It is written and directed by a certain Shemi Zarhin with multiple awards from Israel film academy to his/her credit for various films.But ended up disappointed.
We have seen umpteen films where the protagonist is talented and passionate about an art/skill but his family and/or the circumstances around him stop him from achieving the stupendous success he/she deserves.There will inevitably be a guardian angel whose raison d'etre ( both literally and figuratively) is to help this protagonist achieve his much deserved super stardom. Then there will be a rift between the two. After which, the protagonist decides to lead a 'normal' life the decides to sell his soul and to lead a normal life. But (s)he's snapped out of this crisis by some one who had hitherto been one of the unsympathetic.Then the protagonist comes out self-induced downfall to a rising finale in the background. We have also seen umpteen feministic movies - with the heroine as the sole bread earner of the family and where all the male characters are either leceherous, unemployed or violent or devilious. And there's a new tendency - to make one of the male characters impotent. That too due to psychological reasons (thats the only curable variety, I guess).Then the heroine steps in to finance the treatment, thereby adding to the supposed irony - the lady in the family not only does the man's duty(of earning bread), she also helps him get his manhood. Combine the above two to get the story of this film.
Aviva , from a middle class family in Tiberias (North Israel). She has a passion for writing. Normal incidents and simple objects that she comes across during her day job as a cook in a hotel, inspire lovely phrases and plots in her and her mind immediately conjures up a new progression to the latest story that she's writing. What stops her from a stellar career as a short story writer is the family situation:husband - unemployed and grumpy and seems to have an eye on her sis.Elder daughter - grumpy, unemployed and adds to her woes with a 5000 sheqel bill.Younger daughter - too young to be of any helpelder son - unemployed and impotent (only a psychological problem, mind you).Needs a 1000 sheqel toget cured.Mom - almost crazy; dad - not a burden on this girl but seems to have a lecherous past ( cause of her mom's condition)An ex novelist - supposed to be a mentor but seems to have his own agendaHer sister - subjected to domestic violence.Anita(the sister) , her own troubles not withstanding, is the only one who helps her out in her own little ways. Inspite of the cliched story line, the movie succeeds in holding your attention thanks largely to the direction and immaculate screenplay. That she's a gifted writer is depicted beautifully. Her inspirations are also captured well. The story fragments we hear seem really interesting. We wont have any doubt in our minds that she's a gifted writer.And the performances are top notch.And a nice music in the background ( a song too).

6.5/10