Hunting Elephants (2013)

In Jerusalem, a bullied teen befriends his grandfather and long lost uncle and soon they decide to solve their financial problems by robbing a bank.

Director:

Reshef Levi

Writers:

Reshef Levi, Regev Levy (as Regev Levi)

Stars:

Sasson Gabai, Moni Moshonov, Patrick Stewart

7 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Sasson Gabai	...	Eliyahu
Moni Moshonov	...	Nick
Patrick Stewart	...	Lord Michael Simpson
Gil Blank	...	Yonatan
Yaël Abecassis	...	Dorit
Moshe Ivgy	...	Deddy
Zvika Hadar	...	Daniel
Rotem Zissman-Cohen	...	Sigi (as Rotem Zussman-Cohen)
Meirav Koperberg	...	Simona
Tikva Dayan	...	Parents' home manager (as Tiki Dayan)
Alexander Peleg	...	Lesman (as Alex Peleg)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Maria Belkin
Ezra Dagan
Rot Frhaci
Adam Gabay	...	Yoval

Storyline

Three elderly men and grandson Yonatan find themselves stuck together in a Jerusalem nursing home. The kid is a genius, but stammers and is bullied at school. Yonatan's grandfather, Eliahu, whom he had never met, is a former member of the Lehi (pre-State Jewish underground), and a cold person. Eliahu's best friend from Lehi, Nick, is full of ambition and passion that will never materialize; and Eliahu's English brother-in-law, a has-been, third-rate actor in debt for 232,000 euros. There's one thing keeping them together - they all want to rob the bank that employed Yonatan's deceased father to avenge it for not paying the Yonatan's mother compensation for his dad's death, due to the "small print" in his employment contract. And they want the money to make their last wish come true.

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Plot Keywords:

bank | grandfather grandson relationship | israel | teenage boy | 15 year old | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Israel USA

Language:

Hebrew English

Release Date:

July 2013 (Israel)

Also Known As:

Canailles connection

Filming Locations:

Jerusalem, Israel

Box Office

Budget:

ILS 10,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bleiberg Entertainment,Hunting Elephants Film Production - Limited Partnership,United King Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Reshef Levy wrote the script alone, in all his works, he adds his late brother's name (Regev Levy) to the writing credit for his memory.

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Quotes

Lord Michael Simpson: We are all going to die. We are all going to die.

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Connections

Referenced in Eretz Nehederet: Episode #11.2 (2014)

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Soundtracks

Funky Love
Written by 'Gilad Benamram'
Performed by 'Project Curious'
Courtesy of EverBliss Music Corporation

User Reviews

Fun, well performed, a little ragged around the edges

This isn't the first movie about old men who rob a bank, nor the second. But Reshef Levi comes by the theme honestly; his own father was a bank robber for the Jewish underground before Israel regained its independence in 1948. Like his previous movie Lost Islands, which was a great success, this one involves a largish web of characters and relationships, all interesting. The problem with Hunting Elephants is that in order to put the puzzle together, it has to rely too much on verbal explanations of past events. Sometimes it even jumps into the future to show people talking in retrospect about what happens in the main plot. There is also something of a credibility problem with the way the brains of the elderly characters are sharp or muddled depending on what suits the moment. But the performances are good-- it's rather an all-star cast, including many of the bit players-- and there were many lines that had the audience laughing appreciatively. I'm not sure anyone mentions it, but the film takes place in Jerusalem.