Category Archives: Hebrew

2017, Acceptable for teenagers, Bisexual theme, Brother-Sister relations, Cooking, Cooking and food, Could Be Sad, DIY Ending, Drama, English, Extramarital Affair, Failed Marriage, Family Conflict, German, Hebrew, Israeli culture, Jewish Religious Observance, Keeping Kosher, Love Story, Mother-son relations, Nudity, Quiet, Sex Scenes, Slow, Unhappy Marriage

The Cakemaker (2017)

From Kanopy:

Thomas, a young German baker, is having an affair with Oren, an Israeli married man who has frequent business visits in Berlin. When Oren dies in a car crash in Israel, Thomas travels to Jerusalem seeking for answers regarding his death. Under a fabricated identity, Thomas infiltrates into the life of Anat, his lover’s newly widowed wife, who owns a small Cafe in downtown Jerusalem. Thomas starts to work for her and create German cakes and cookies that bring life into her Cafe. Thomas finds himself involved in Anat’s life in a way far beyond his anticipation, and to protect the truth he will stretch his lie to a point of no return.

From Kanopy you can stream this 1 hour 50 minute complete film. Because the story takes place in Germany and Israel,  three languages are used: English, Hebrew, and German. English subtitles are provided.

Kanopy’s description is so complete that I need only say that the economy of dialog, the meaningful pauses at facial expressions, and the slow pace are essential components. Is it boring to watch Thomas slowly and painstakingly bake bread and cakes?  Instead are we not seeing his dogged, determined, accepting attitude toward life?

Warning: You will have to interpret the ending for yourself. Please let me know how you think things turned out.

Patience required for watching this worthwhile film that is not for everyone.

2020, Acceptable for teenagers, Amazon Prime, Basically Sad, Conflicted childless couple, Drama, Gay theme, Hebrew, Israeli culture, Sex Scenes, Single Mother

15 Years (2020)

From IMDB:

Yoav’s demons start haunting him after his best friend becomes pregnant without telling him, and after his boyfriend of 15 years starts talking about children too. His life unravels, and self-destruction seems inevitable.

From Amazon Prime you can stream this 1 hour 28 minute complete film.  Hebrew with English Subtitles.

Because the acting is so good and the story so sadly real, this film is worth watching.  Probably the same story pertains to so many couples that it could just as easily centered on a straight couple as on a gay couple.

Do not expect a happy ending.

2013, Amazon Prime, Bisexual theme, Ethical struggles, Explicit sex, Gay theme, Hebrew, Israeli culture, Masturbation, Mostly About Sex, Mother-daughter relations, Nudity, Occasionaly violent, Rape, Sexual Tension, Thought provoking

Snails in the Rain (2013)

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From IMDB:

Tel Aviv, Summer 1989. Boaz, a beautiful and alluring linguistics student, receives anonymous, male-written, love letters that undermines his sexual identity and interfere with his peaceful life with his beloved girlfriend.

From Amazon Prime you can stream this 1 hour 21 minute Israeli film with English subtitles.

In this well-made gem of a film, the bisexual Boaz is tormented by his homosexual tendencies and fantasies which add conflicting tensions in his relation with his live-in girl friend and lover Noa.  One major aspect of the story is: just who is this male stranger that is writing love letters to Boaz?  Because Boaz is handsome he continually gets admiring glances from women and men. With each such male admiring glance Boaz asks “Is he the one?”

Be prepared for much explicit straight and gay sexual activity . For example to relieve his sexual frustration, Boaz visits gay cruising spots in the park.  But his personal conflicts lead him often to be brutal to Noa and confrontational with male advances.

You will just have to watch the film to see what Boaz’s decision is because I will never tell.

2013, Arab Culture, Arabic, Basically Sad, Hebrew, Israeli Palestinian Conflict, Prison, Revenge, Suspense, Torture, Violent, Wonderful acting

Omar (2013)

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From Netflix:

With his girlfriend, Nadia, living on the other side of an Israeli-built boundary wall, young Palestinian Omar regularly scales it to visit her. But he faces even greater obstacles after a lethal confrontation with an Israeli soldier.

From a filmmaking viewpoint, “Omar” is well done. Emotionally, as is true for most films about the Israeli Palestinian conflict, it offers a sad, hopeless view of the lives of those unfortunately born into the situation.

If you are a history fan, you will realize that such an atmosphere of paranoia in which you can trust no-one: friends, lovers, or otherwise is nothing new. In the court of Henry VIII of England there were spies everywhere.

For a good review see what Roger Ebert has to say.

As yet I do not understand why there is a wall between Palestinians and Palestinians. Omar regularly jumps this wall to see Nadia. But Nadia is Palestinian.

Stay alert for the final few seconds of the story.

If you can stand the heartache, “Omar” is worth watching.

2012, Arab Culture, Arabic, Basically Sad, Conspiracy, Disturbing Image, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Hebrew, Israeli Palestinian Conflict, Jewish Culture, Medical Theme, Military, Nudity, Sex Scenes, Terrorist Attack, Violent, Well developed plot, Wonderful acting

The Attack (2012)

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From Netflix:

An Arab Israeli physician offers assistance at the scene of a gruesome suicide bombing in Tel Aviv and then learns that the bomber was his own wife. Stunned and furious, he sets out to confront the people who encouraged her deadly decision.

To paraphrase an old saying, “One good film is worth a thousand history books”. My guess is that as you watch this marvelous film in Hebrew and Arabic with English subtitles your attitude towards the events and the protagonists will change at least somewhat. Here is yet another film about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that succeeds in not choosing sides, something that is very difficult to do in a film. If nothing else you will probably sympathize with the surgeon husband of the suicide bomber, a man caught in the middle of two cultures.

Superb acting, subtly developed plot, and a thought-provoking situation make for a must-see film.

2012, Dancing, Drama, Hebrew, Jewish Culture, Quiet, Religious Theme, Slow, Small gem of a film

Fill The Void (2012)

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From IMDB:

A devout 18-year-old Israeli is pressured to marry the husband of her late sister. Declaring her independence is not an option in Tel Aviv’s ultra-Orthodox Hasidic community, where religious law, tradition and the rabbi’s word are absolute.

If you want to see a quiet (except when the men are singing and dancing), slow, thoughtful portrait of the ultra-Orthodox Hasidic culture, you will enjoy this film in Hebrew with English subtitles.

Spoken words are scarce enough that it can be difficult if not impossible to know what is motivating some of the characters.

To summarize the film is easy: Yochay’s wife Esther dies in childbirth. Yochay needs a wife for his newborn child Mordechai. More exactly, he wants to marry Esther’s youngest sister Shira. But Shira’s older sister Frieda is, to her great shame, not yet married. Mother, father, aunt, Yochay and the culture pressure Shira to marry Yochay. Unfortunately Shira is unwilling to do so. Her conflict is more or less the content of the entire film. More I will not say.

Whether love was ever an issue is not clear.

If nothing else, the film is a captivating peek into the lives of these aloof and separate Jews.

For more information on this worthwhile film see the Wikipedia discussion.

2012, Crude Talk, Depression, Drama, Gay theme, Hebrew, Jewish Culture, Medical Theme, Military, Nudity, Quiet, Unrealistic

Yossi (2012)

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From Netflix:

While driving through a remote part of Israel, a closeted gay doctor crosses paths with a group of soldiers who inspire him to live life in the open. Ohad Knoller reprises the title role in this sequel to Yossi & Jagger.

Before seeing this film, you should watch the first of the 2-film series entitled Yossi & Jagger. Briefly we recall the plot of this first film: Jossi and Jagger are two (male) Israeli soldiers and lovers at their war front. Jagger is killed in action. For me this film was a chance to experience some of the life of the men and women in the Israeli army.

In this second film and 10 years later Jossi is a cardiologist. He is overweight, closeted, still in mourning, and leads a dismal, inactive, non-life. In one sense, what kept the movie interesting for me was Jossi’s refusal to react to any stimulus or friendly offer of some activity. Supposedly the “happy” ending is his finding someone to love. HOWEVER (and other critics disliked the same things) his new love, Tom, is a much younger, fitter soldier who forces Jossi to react to his overtures. Tom says he is attracted to Jossi’s intelligence. They have a one-night stand after which Jossi proposes that they spend their life together. None of this is realistic and seemed to me almost silly.

In summary I was moved by Jossi’s suffering (probably clinical depression) and waited hopefully for some solution. If only that solution had made some sense.

Instead, why not watch a wonderful film by the same director called Walk On Water ?

2009, Could Be Sad, Drama, Gay theme, Hebrew, Nudity, Religious Theme, Sex Scenes

Eyes Wide Open (2009)

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From NetFlix:

Married Jerusalem butcher Aaron (Zohar Strauss) takes pity on homeless student Ezri (Ran Danker) and hires him to work in his shop. But when romantic sparks fly between the unlikely pair, Aaron’s wife, Rivkeh (Tinkerbell), becomes increasingly suspicious. The stern Orthodox community disapproves, and a menacing group of “modesty guards” monitors Aaron’s every move in this tragic drama, an official selection at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.

Who knew that Israel had “Thought Police” ? Let us assume that this quiet, sad, well-acted Israeli film truthfully portrays life among the conservative Jews. What we see, besides an obsessive religious observance, is neighbor spying on neighbor with often violent results. There are two parallel developments. On the one hand a young woman, betrothed by arrangement, is having an affair with a different young man. Eventually the neighbor Vigilantes of Righteousness confront and threaten the young man. The butcher ironically is part of this gang at the same time as in the second parallel stream he is having a homosexual affair with his assistant in his butcher shop, which affair has come under the Thought Police radar. Eventually the affair catches up with the pair. I will spoil no further.

In Hebrew with subtitles.

Sad revelation about conservative Israeli life.