Clara Hakedosha (1996)

Directors:

Ari Folman
Ori Sivan

Writers:

Ari Folman (writer)
Jelena Kohout (novel)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Romance

Tagline:

welcome to golda meir junior high school home of the bewitching and the bewitched

Plot:

The year is 1999 and the storyline is actually a number of sub-plots all revolving around the 13-year old Clara...

Plot Keywords:

Apocalypse | Psychic | Supernatural | Surreal | Telekinesis

Awards:

7 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Lucy Dubinchik	...	Clara Chanov
Halil Elohev	...	Eddie Tikel
Johnny Peterson	...	Rosy
Maya Maron	...	Libby
Maya De-Fries	...	Eleanor Galash
Tal Feigenboim	...	Galit Biron
Yigal Naor	...	Headmaster Tissona
Joe El Dror	...	Teacher Mounitz
Orly Silbersatz Banai	...	TV Reporter
Tal Ben-Bina	...	Tikel's Mom
Menashe Noy	...	Tikel's Dad
Jenya Dodina	...	Clara's Mom
Ronald Heilovsky	...	Clara's Dad
Israel Damidov	...	Elvis Chanov
Ronny Bachar	...	Vered Rosental

Also Known As:

Saint Clara

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

Israel

Language:

Hebrew | Russian

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Gymnasia Herzliya, Tel-Aviv, Israel

Company:

Israeli Film Fund

Movie Connections:

Version of Einfälle der heiligen Klara, Die (1980) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Cham Al Ha-Yare'ach

Traditional folk talk of magic and morality

On the surface, Saint Clara presents itself as a clever and amusing dystopian look at modern society. The central characters inhabit a town of featureless block buildings and deserted streets. Golda Meir High seems to be completely empty except for the principal, one teacher, and one class. And the TV in all the houses are tuned to the same show, in which a wild haired woman makes cryptic prophecies of doom and destruction.

Underneath all of this, however, is a traditional folk tale of an alienated young boy who falls in love and makes his peace with society. The boy, the town, and you the viewer learn just how unimportant are things like fame, fortune, and power. And all along the way you are entertained with tales of magic and humorous anecdotes. Long ago, this is the type of tale with which a traveling minstrel would have held your fascination. Remove the post-apocalyptic stylizations and this becomes very reminiscent of the early stories of Isaac B. Singer, which I assume are themselves done in the style of traditional Yiddish folk tales.

Don't be put off by the idea of having to sit through a moral lesson; the movie is never didactic or preachy. When you finally see the lesson at the end, it just makes the characters seem that much real and the stories that much more entertaining. This is a short and not particularly ambitious movie, but it succeeds completely in those things which it does set out to accomplish.