The Women's Balcony

Here in Israel we're accustomed to nostalgic comic dramas about tight-knit, down-at-heel neighborhood communities. Often the drama originates in marital conflict, with the blame on the husband; in this case, for a change, it originates in religious conflict, fundamentalist versus liberal. The film takes the liberal side but without demonizing the opposition. Marriages are affected, but the film doesn't demonize the husbands either. Everyone's marriage is fundamentally stable, a remarkable thing in the movies, and we even see a rare portrayal of grandparents who are not only still in love but still physically affectionate. The whole large cast of characters is impelled by good intentions, and they make the movie a pleasant Saroyanesque experience. At one point the action emerges from the stone alleyways of Jerusalem to show us a view of the spiffed-up Old City and we realize there is no attempt to explicitly set the plot in the past, although there are few reminders of the present day and the community seems to live as if it were sort of a Brigadoon still living the 1950s. It's a better place than our own, and well worth a visit.