Eyes Wide Open (2009) Einayim Petukhoth (original title)

Popularity:

Up 3% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.

Director:

Haim Tabakman

Writer:

Merav Doster (screenplay)

Release Date:

20 May 2010 (Germany)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

A married, Orthodox, Jerusalem butcher and Jewish father of four falls in love with his handsome, 22-year-old male apprentice, triggering the suspicions of his wife and the disapproval of his Orthodox community.

Plot Keywords:

Butcher | Orthodox | Jewish | Jerusalem | Children

Awards:

3 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Zohar Shtrauss	...	Aaron Fleischman (as Zohar Strauss)
Ran Danker	...	Ezri
Tinkerbell	...	Rivka Fleischman
Tzahi Grad	...	Rabbi Vaisben
Isaac Sharry	...	Mordechai
Avi Grainik	...	Israel Fischer (as Avi Grayinik)
Eva Zrihen-Attali	...	Sara
Haim Zanati	...	Ultraourthodox Weirdo (as Haim Znati)
Mati Atlas	...	Ex-boy Friend
Iftach Ophir	...	Head of Yeshiva Student in the Butchery (as Iftach Ofir)
Safrira Zachai	...	Fischer's Mother (as Shafrira Zakai)
Lidor Daudi	...	Yakov
Tal Barak	...	David
Bar Kalfin	...	Shimon
Royi Zolicha	...	Nataniel
Eden Alon	...	Iftach

Directed by
Haim Tabakman

Writing credits
Merav Doster		(screenplay and story)

Produced by
Isabelle Attal	....	producer
David C. Barrot	....	producer
Christian Chardot	....	executive co-producer: France
Dirk Decker	....	associate producer: Riva Filmproduktion
Michael Eckelt	....	producer
Frédèric Gomez	....	executive co-producer: France
Denis Granger	....	executive co-producer: France
Rafael Katz	....	producer
Hervé Lagaert	....	executive co-producer: France
Michel Madsac	....	executive co-producer: France
Gilles Salesse	....	executive co-producer: France
Eric Salon	....	executive co-producer: France
Itai Tamir	....	line producer
Stéphane Tordjemann	....	executive co-producer: France
Christian Vennefrohne	....	line producer

Original Music by
Nathaniel Méchaly		(as Nathaniel Mechaly)

Cinematography by
Axel Schneppat		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Dov Stoyer		(as Dov Steuer)

Casting by
Yael Aviv

Art Direction by
Avi Fahima

Set Decoration by
Nira Yair

Costume Design by
Yam Brusilovsky

Makeup Department
Esther Ben-Noon	....	birds and wigs: Sima & Anet (as Eti Ben-Nun)
Meirav Boshusha-Horovitz	....	makeup artist (as Merav Boshusha Horovitz)
Nana Chiabaut	....	makeup artist
Eliyaho Philip	....	makeup assistant (as Little Prince)
Rivka Zahavi	....	birds and wigs: Sima & Anet (as Rivka Zehavi)

Production Management
Eran Kotzki	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Avichai Henig	....	first assistant director
Daniel Mozes	....	first assistant director (as Daniel Danny Mozes)
Shunit Zlicha	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Ben Leon Afar	....	property master (as Beni Afar Leon)
Mordechai Atar	....	property master assistant
Nisim Bahar	....	construction
Yotan Ben Jacob	....	property master assistant
Shahar Blumberg	....	construction
Shunit Gal	....	graphic designer
Yang Yuval Gilad	....	art director assistant
Mark Grinberg	....	set decorator assistant
Boris Haravan	....	art director assistant
Yuval Lili	....	property master assistant
Omer Nisim	....	property master assistant
Yohav Raines	....	art director assistant
Andrei Tzernakov	....	art director assistant
Yon Vargelis	....	art director assistant
Yaniv Yehiel	....	set decorator assistant
Dor Zalmanson	....	property master assistant
Andrew Chernakov	....	painter (uncredited)

Sound Department
Keren Or Biton	....	adr recordist: adr editor
Keren Or Biton	....	dialogue editor (as Keren Biton)
Hervé Buirette	....	sound re-recording mixer
Frédéric Cristéa	....	sound engineer: second unit
Slava Frenklakh	....	boom operator: second unit
Neal Gibbs	....	foley artist (as Neal Gibs)
Michael Goorevich	....	production sound mixer
Michael Goorevich	....	representative: Transfax Prod., sound equipment
Nin Hazan	....	foley editor
Gil Segal	....	sound effects editor
Gil Toren	....	sound designer
David Arnold	....	german version (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Bashir Abu Rabi'a	....	special effects (as Bashir Abu Rabia)

Visual Effects by
Claudia Gittel	....	digital colorist
Uwe Zerrweck	....	computer graphics

Stunts
Dima Osmolovsky	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Christoph Arius	....	representative: Panther Rental, camera, lighting & grip equipment
Igal Arobas	....	grip
Rotem Bar Or	....	second assistant lighting
Liad Berger	....	grip
Amit Berlowitz	....	still photographer (as Amit Berlowich)
Nir Harari	....	grip
Neta Meir	....	second assistant lighting
Michael Nathan Melzer	....	second assistant camera
Guy Naaman	....	key grip
Arkady Ostrovsky	....	second assistant lighting
Udi Rimer	....	gaffer
David Rudoy	....	second assistant camera
Zamfir Shabtay	....	video assistant
Rami Siman-Tov	....	focus puller
Rany Siman-Tov	....	focus puller
Sagy Tsirken	....	video assistant (as Sagy Tsirkin)
Adam Verete	....	best boy

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Rachel Ben Dahan	....	wardrobe assistant

Editorial Department
Sergei Bezrukoff	....	digital on-line editor (as Serg Berzukoff)
Itzik Bin	....	editing facilities: Tel Aviv Studio
Stefanie Delfs	....	negative cutter
Dieter Eggers	....	final color grader
Renate Hansen	....	negative cutter
Shabi Levi	....	editing facilities: Tel Aviv Studio
Tamara Pratt	....	editor assistant
Sami Tat	....	editing facilities: Tel Aviv Studio
Karolina Toren	....	post-production coordinator (as Karolina Merz)
Claudia Tronnier	....	commissioning editor: Das Kleine Fernsehspiel (ZDF )
Shunit Zlicha	....	post-production coordinator

Music Department
Nathaniel Méchaly	....	music: performer (as Nathaniel Mechaly)

Transportation Department
Itzik Cohen	....	driver
Israel Gavrielov	....	driver

Other crew
Shalom Aizenbach	....	religious consultant: on-set
Yosi Artzi	....	location manager
Ayala Barak	....	actor agent
Asher Bellaiche	....	accountant: Israel
Shuki Ben-Naim	....	script editor (as Shuki Ben Na'im)
Keren Berger	....	personal assistant: line producer
Ralph Bischoff	....	accountant: Germany
Oded Chakim	....	production assistant
Gili A. Danon	....	making of
Ofir Dery	....	location scout
Shalom Eisenbach	....	extras coordinator
Liat Elkayam	....	script consultant
Arie Lev Gendelman	....	legal services
Odeliya Hadad	....	water girl
Shmuel Hirshfeld	....	cpa: Israel, Shtainmetz-Aminoach & Co.
Levia Hon	....	actor agent
Perry Kafri	....	actor agent
Asher Kahana	....	legal services
Sibylle Klötzer	....	assistant: Riva Film
Shabtay Kor	....	script consultant
Frida Kowatz	....	translator
Eric BenMeir Kozakow	....	camp manager
Nikolas Kuhn	....	credits
Beate Lesch	....	lab contact: CinePostproduction GmbH Atlantik Film Hamburg
Edi Meiry	....	legal services: translation
Asaf Nachum	....	production assistant
Marco Quast	....	insurance agent: Marsh
Noa Roll	....	representative: producer: Pimpa Film Productions
Lois Rot	....	production assistant
David Shani	....	insurance agent: The Israeli Phoenix (as David Shany)
Daniel Siman-Tov	....	production assistant
Karolina Toren	....	production coordinator (as Karolina Merz)
Sasi Tzemach	....	location scout
Jenya Vaserman	....	production coordinator (as Jenya Vasserman)
Liel Wachsmann	....	pre-production assistant
Liel Wachsmann	....	script continuity supervisor
Zohar Ya'kobson	....	actor agent (as Zohar Yakobson)
Oren Zaslavsky	....	making of
Yonatan Ziskrot	....	pre-production assistant

Thanks
Eytan Fox	....	special thanks
Douchka Papierski	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Pimpa Film Productions (as Pimpa Film Productions, a Rafael Katz Company)
• Riva Filmproduktion (in coproduction with)
• Totally (in coproduction with) (as TOTally Prod.)
• Das Kleine Fernsehspiel (ZDF) (in coproduction with)
• Arte (in cooperation with)
• Yes (in cooperation with) (as yes. Larger than life cinematic experience)
• Keshet Broadcasting (in cooperation with)
• Israel Film Fund (with the support of)
• Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein (with the support of)
• Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports, The (with the support of)
• Israel Film Council (with the support of) (as The Israel Film Council)
• Israel Fund for Film Production (with the support of) (as Israel Fund For Film Production)

Distributors

• Cinéart (2010) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Haut et Court (2009) (France) (theatrical)
• New American Vision (2010) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Peccadillo Pictures (2010) (UK) (theatrical)
• Against Gravity (2010) (Poland) (all media)
• Alberto Bitelli Intl. Films (2009) (Brazil) (all media)
• Cinéart (2009) (Belgium) (all media)
• Edition Salzgeber (2010) (Germany) (all media)
• Filmes do Mix (2010) (Brazil) (all media)
• First Run Features (2010) (worldwide) (all media)
• Optimale (2010) (France) (DVD)
• Video Vision Entertainment (2010) (South Africa) (all media) (as Videovision Entertainment)

Other Companies

• Avis  car rental
• D.B. Post Production  sound studios: Israel
• Edit Studios  editing facility
• Fujifilm  film stock
• Israeli Phoenix, The  insurance: 3 rd. liability
• Kedem Hotel  accommodation: Jerusalem
• La La Land Studios  editing facility
• Les Audis de Vanves  sound post-production (sound re-recording)
• Look  extras and bit agency
• MCMeyers World  travel agency
• Marsh  insurance
• Movie Mobile  lighting and grip equipment
• Movie Mobile  vehicles and transportation
• Panther Rental  camera: lighting and grip equioment
• Shtainmetz-Aminoach & Co.  cpa office: Israel
• Sima & Anet  birds and wigs
• Studio Post-Modern  sound studio: France
• Tel Aviv Studios  editing facility
• Trans-Titles  subtitles
• Transfax Film Productions  sound equipment (as Transfax Prod.)
• Uwe Grobecker  accounting office: Germany

Also Known As:

"Einayim Petukhoth" - Israel (original title)

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

Israel | Germany | France

Language:

Hebrew | Yiddish | German | French | English | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:Unrated | Brazil:14 | France:Unrated | Germany:12 (f) | Ireland:15A | Italy:Unrated | Netherlands:12 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12 | USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Jerusalem, Israel

Company:

Pimpa Film Productions

Quotes:

Head of Yeshiva Student in the Butchery:[translated] Look, Reb Aaron, the boy that works for you doesn't belong here.
Aaron Fleischman:What do you mean?
Head of Yeshiva Student in the Butchery:Nothing good can come out of this. There are rumors. He is a curse to righteous men. Butcher, don't bring him to our home. Don't take him to the synagogue, and not to our neighborhood.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "RuPaul's Drag Race: RuPaul's Hair Extravaganza (#3.11)" (2011)

As Sad and Complex as Real Life

I just saw this at the Minneapolis-St. Paul film festival. A powerful, relentless film that seems to imply, if I can trust my instincts, that "falling in love" is a spiritual phenomenon devoid of gender considerations. Now, I may disagree with this personally, but the director makes such a powerful case for it that it is entertaining to watch.

Also implied is the message that repression produces the opposite effect in the long run...

In the film, a super-fundamentalist butcher in an ultra-orthodox Jewish neighborhood meets and falls for another man, despite the social and even physical danger. The scene in which the two meet is shot in such a way that even we heterosexuals in the audience can understand. The young apprentice enters from a pouring rain with a cherubic, earnest look on his face and, for just a second, what the director is trying to say echoes in everyone watching.

The scenes between the butcher and his plain yet somehow beautiful and patient wife become more tense and more poignant, even as they become more and more muted.

Overall, this was an excellent film. I gave it four out of five on my ballot.

Things to watch for: Pool of Siloam, frank but not disgusting sex scenes. A-