Abu el Banat

Abou al Banat grew out of a monologue that Shai K. Ophir would perform. Ophir was trained in the French pantomime tradition; throughout the movie you can notice the straightness of his back, the panache of every movement. On the stage he didn't need props; he could make you see what wasn't there. The movie surrounds Ophir with reality and in that perspective, Abou al Banat becomes a less sympathetic character. The fault may be in Moshe Mizrahi's fondness for soap opera and his sympathy with the female point of view. Whatever the reason, the rich, insensitive Abou al Banat fails where another Ophir character-- the naive, downtrodden Policeman Azulai in the movie of that name-- succeeded: in eliciting warm feelings from the audience.