Gotta Have Heart, or as it was originally named in Hebrew: 'A Husband with a Heart' (Ba'al Ba'al Lev), was originally produced for Channel 2 of the Israeli Television, as a stand-alone film in a series named: 'Short stories about Love'. This film immediately stood out among the many other excellent films in the series, both due to its gay theme, as well as its campy and fantasy-like style.
The film relates to a classic Jewish musical: 'Kunilemel', telling the story of mixed identities of two identical twins, one an orthodox Jew and the other a secular. The two songs included in 'Ba'al Ba'al Lev' (as well as its title) are borrowed from 'Kunilemel': one dealing with the identity conflicts of its main character, the other with the marriage fantasies of its heroine, looking for 'a husband with a heart'.
The use of music has always played an important role in Fox's movies. This is demonstrated in his first short movie, 'After', where the original score was composed by Yehuda Poliker, an out-of-the-closet gay, one of the most successful and admired musicians in Israel, and the theme song 'Wave, Carry Me' sang by the Israeli mega-star Hava Alberstein (in Hebrew: 'Sa'eni Gal', Gal being the first name of Fox's spouse, Gal Uchovsky, credited for writing / screenplay in Ba'al Ba'al Lev and Walk on Water). In later films (Yossi and Jagger, Walk on Water) Fox has been working with Ivri Lider, another out-of-the-closet gay, a very successful young Israeli musician.
Watching this film several times by now, I still find it a rare gem. It is colourful, campy and fun to watch, and yet manages to entail intelligent notions. But most of all, it is highly touching, and like other Eytan Fox movies, this film leaves you with a tear in the corner of your eye. But unlike other Fox movies, in Ba'al Ba'al Lev this tear is accompanied by a huge smile that walks with you for several days after.
The film relates to a classic Jewish musical: 'Kunilemel', telling the story of mixed identities of two identical twins, one an orthodox Jew and the other a secular. The two songs included in 'Ba'al Ba'al Lev' (as well as its title) are borrowed from 'Kunilemel': one dealing with the identity conflicts of its main character, the other with the marriage fantasies of its heroine, looking for 'a husband with a heart'.
The use of music has always played an important role in Fox's movies. This is demonstrated in his first short movie, 'After', where the original score was composed by Yehuda Poliker, an out-of-the-closet gay, one of the most successful and admired musicians in Israel, and the theme song 'Wave, Carry Me' sang by the Israeli mega-star Hava Alberstein (in Hebrew: 'Sa'eni Gal', Gal being the first name of Fox's spouse, Gal Uchovsky, credited for writing / screenplay in Ba'al Ba'al Lev and Walk on Water). In later films (Yossi and Jagger, Walk on Water) Fox has been working with Ivri Lider, another out-of-the-closet gay, a very successful young Israeli musician.
Watching this film several times by now, I still find it a rare gem. It is colourful, campy and fun to watch, and yet manages to entail intelligent notions. But most of all, it is highly touching, and like other Eytan Fox movies, this film leaves you with a tear in the corner of your eye. But unlike other Fox movies, in Ba'al Ba'al Lev this tear is accompanied by a huge smile that walks with you for several days after.