Antarctica (2008)

In two days, Omer will hit a milestone; his 30th birthday. Like many his age, he hasn't found himself. But then Omer is hardly looking. Instead he chooses to loose himself among the stacks ... See full summary »

Director:

Yair Hochner

Writer:

Yair Hochner

Stars:

Ofer Regirer, Guy Zoaretz, Yuval Raz

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ofer Regirer	...	Boaz
Guy Zoaretz	...	Ronen (as Guy Zo-Aretz)
Yuval Raz	...	Miki
Yiftach Mizrahi	...	Danny
Oshri Sahar	...	Eitan
Tomer Ilan	...	Omer
Lucy Dubinchik	...	Shirley
Yael Deckelbaum	...	Yael
Liat Ekta	...	Michal (as Liat Akta)
Shirli Salomon	...	Shirli (as Shirli Solomon)
Noam Huberman	...	Shoshana / Amram (as Miss Laila Carry)
Rivka Neuman	...	Matilda Rose
Dvir Benedek	...	Tzachy
Dina Limon	...	Mrs. Abramovich
Tamar Yerushalmi	...	Suzi the hairdresser

Storyline

In two days, Omer will hit a milestone; his 30th birthday. Like many his age, he hasn't found himself. But then Omer is hardly looking. Instead he chooses to loose himself among the stacks of books at the local library, where he works. It is a respite from real life. From time to time he goes on blind dates. He meets Danny on one of his dates. 20 years old and full of enthusiasm, Danny dreams of becoming a dancer. Shirley, Omer's little sister, has her own problems. Aside from being Omer's greatest annoyance, she is in an unconventional relationship with, Michal, owner of the city's hippest coffeehouse and her boss. Just when it seems that Omer has completely lost his spark and all seems lost, Enter Ronen, the handsome journalist who ignites the flame Omer has been seeking. Everyone is hoping for a change. They are waiting for the light. The light that will thaw their frozen hearts. But only one person has the answer, Matilda Rose, the alien loving best-selling novelist can solve the ...

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Plot Keywords:

coffeehouse | journalist | alien | birthday | dancer | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong sexual content including graphic dialogue, nudity and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Israel

Language:

Hebrew English German

Release Date:

6 June 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Antarctica ...lässt Herzen schmelzen

Filming Locations:

Tel Aviv, Israel

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$1,385 (USA) (29 August 2008)

Gross:

$21,445 (USA) (12 June 2009)

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Color:

Color

User Reviews

Tomer Ilan (as Omer) saves the day

In 'Antarctica', director Yair Hochner tries to create a film in the same style Milos Forman used many times: an array of characters, seem to be unconnected; and then towards the end of the film they all come together somehow.

Well, Films like that can be very good if you direct them with refinement and intelligence; and you have a great script and cast to match.

This can only partially be said on 'Antarctica'. It is in a way interesting to watch the behaviour of young gay men & women in a country like Israel; We do not see much of that. But then you find they sort of behave in the same way as they would in another western country; This story could have taken place in Rome or Madrid or Amsterdam. Apart from the fact the characters spoke Hebrew, I could not find any special Israeli angle that would make this feature worth seeing even more.

So we are left with just the story proper.

I do tend to agree some scenes were too long - the bar scenes for example - and some too short. Some characters were developed more then others; and only towards half way you actually discover who in fact is the lead character..which I found puzzling.

I would have preferred the film concentrating on Omer (the lead) as for me he was the most intriguing character, and less on his sister for example; or the guy from the first act in the film, which eventually had very little to do with the plot, except the fact most male characters went through his bed. And for the life of me I could not understand why they used a man to portray Omer's mom?

But this film is still worth watching if only to discover the lead actor, Tomer Ilan. This young man had obviously a lot of talent; he sparkles intelligence and that even makes him more good looking then he already is. Great actor casting, and I hope we will see more of him.

The rest of the cast is quite good, although they was no need for brilliant acting in this film.

To summarise: great little film to watch on your DVD player on a cold evening off.

8 of 10 from me.