Alila (2003)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Amos Gitai

Writers:

Amos Gitai (writer)
Yehoshua Kenaz (novel)

Release Date:

12 September 2003 (Italy)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

Slice-of-life look at the lives of twelve people who live or work in the same apartment complex in Tel Aviv.

Plot Keywords:

Affair | Nudity | Breasts | Sex | Based On Novel

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

Yaël Abecassis	...	Gabi
Hana Laszlo	...	Mali
Uri Klauzner	...	Ezra (as Uri Ran Klauzner)
Ronit Elkabetz	...	Ronit
Amos Lavi	...	Hezi (as Amos Lavie)
Lupo Berkowitch	...	Aviram
Liron Levo	...	Ilan
Yosef Carmon	...	Schwartz
Amit Mestechkin	...	Eyal
Lyn Hsiao Zamir	...	Linda
Tomer Russo	...	Officer
Carmel Betto	...	Carmel
Dalit Kahan	...	Sharon
Kobi Zahavi	...	Kiosk owner
Eyal Elhadad	...	Locksmith

Runtime:

Canada:122 min (Toronto International Film Festival) | USA:123 min | Argentina:123 min | Canada:116 min (Ontario)

Country:

Israel | France

Language:

Hebrew

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Brazil:16 | UK:15 | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Argentina:13

Company:

Agav Films

I'm not terribly enthusiastic over this one.

An interesting innovation is the introduction of the cast by announcing the names as they appear on the screen. It heightens our interest in what is to follow and acquaints us with the sound of a different language.

The film gives us a glimpse of numerous facets of Israeli life-styles of a group of tenants occupying a run down apartment block. Broken marriages, kept women, illegal employment of immigrants, corruption and avoidance of army duties set the scene for a rather unhappy collection of people. Life is hard and unkind and the future is unpredictable.

The numerous characters in the film give convincing performances although the police investigator at headquarters, a woman with a raucous laugh, seemed to me a bit unreal. The hot sweaty atmosphere in stuffy rooms is well developed and the much prayed-for rain falls down in buckets.

Ezra and Mali have a son Eyali due for military service, but the lad rebels against the system. "The army stinks" he says. "This whole country stinks". Frustrated he wanders the streets in desperation. Ezra and Mali already divorced have a problem son on their hands.

Mali has a long time girl friend called Gabi. Gabi is not married. Gabi meets a stranger for sex in a rented room on a regular basis. He is much older and a bit of a mystery character. He insists that their meetings be kept an absolute secret. Of course, this gives the movie maker a great opportunity to throw in a few sex scenes both on the bed and under the shower.

Ezra contracts building jobs using Chinese immigrants. This flouts the law, but there are ways of circumventing the law when you have the appropriate neighbours. Leaky dwellings and corroded power boards add to the every day problems and simply provide some background to a not very strong story line.

On the whole well done, but not very exciting and one hopes that the excellent actors will be given better material to work with in the future. There is no direct terrorism in the film as we might expect but it is alluded to from time to time in conversation and we hear mention of it in radio broadcasts.