HAIM TABAKMAN

Bil’s rating (out of 5):  BB. 

Original title:  Einayim Pkuhot

Israel/Germany/France, 2009.  Pimpa Film Productions, Riva Filmproduktion, Totally, Das Kleine Fernsehspiel, Arte, Yes, Keshet Broadcasting, Israel Film Fund, Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, The Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports, Israel Film Council, Israel Fund for Film Production.  Story and screenplay by Merav Doster.  Cinematography by Axel Schneppat.  Produced by Isabelle Attal, David C. Barrot, Michael Eckelt, Rafael Katz.  Music by Nathaniel Mechaly. Production Design by Avi Fahima.  Costume Design by Yam Brusilovsky.  Film Editing by Dov Stoyer.  Toronto International Film Festival 2009.  

Aaron, an Orthodox butcher in Jerusalem opens his workplace and home to a visitor when young Yeshiva student Ezri shows up at his door in need of help: he is between destinations and requires somewhere to work and sleep. Aaron senses that this young man is running away from something but, despite any misgivings, allows him to sleep in the back of the store while welcoming him to his family, who gladly share meals with the visitor. As time passes, however, Ezri’s secret is revealed and his host is affected by it: the young man’s melancholy is the heartbreak of love for another man, and this allows Aaron to finally deal with his own confused sexuality. It’s a conventional, doomed-love story with a less familiar setting, but the characters are dull, the pace is wooden and the film never manages to excite any interest.