Kesher Ir (1999)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Jonathan Sagall

Writer:

Jonathan Sagall (writer)

Release Date:

29 April 1999 (Israel)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

An estranged couple receives an unexpected visitor who throws everything in their family off balance. |

Plot Keywords:

Marriage | Human Relationship | Marital Crisis | Psychoanalysis | Sex

Awards:

4 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Dafna Rechter	...	Eva
Jonathan Sagall	...	Emanuel
Shimon Ben-Ari	...	Marco
Tchia Danon	...	Gabriela
Ziv Baruch	...	Jonah
Zachi Dichner	...	Police officer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sharon Alexander	...	Robby
Alon Dahan	...	Neri
Assi Levy	...	Nelly

Also Known As:

Urban Feel (International: English title)

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

Israel

Language:

Hebrew

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Singapore:R(A)

Company:

Urban Feel Productions

Quotes:

Nelly: The only thing that smoothes out the rough edges of my life is cum.

a mature, modern psycho-sexual drama set in Israel

The set-up is a bit contrived and we've seen it all before (a drifter comes back "out of the past" and insinuates himself back into the lives of the woman he left, her new husband and her child) Generally this seems to be a plot out of a cinemax movie or a steamy adult thriller. And sure enough the film has a full-frontal orgy scene that would have made Stanley Kubrick jealous. But it also has a lot of interesting things to say about relationships. It actually reminded me of Eyes Wide Shut, so you can take that for what it's worth(I loved EWS). And it's definitely one of the best Israeli films I have seen in recent memory. The film is narratively flawed at times, but I can forgive it for that because at least it is refreshingly frank and honest. And not too many movies these days are.

The shock of the mostly elderly crowd at the film festival I saw it in also made it all seem worthwhile. Sagall is a director to watch.