"World Cinema: Israel"

My book, "World Cinema: Israel" (originally published in 1996) is available from Amazon on "Kindle", with an in-depth chapter comparing and analyzing internationally acclaimed Israeli films up to 2010.

Want to see some of the best films of recent years? Just scroll down to "best films" to find listings of my recommendations.

amykronish@gmail.com

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Five Hours from Paris

I just returned from a whirlwind trip to New York City and had the opportunity to view a recent Israeli feature film on the El Al flight -- Five Hours from Paris, by first-time feature film director Leon Prudovsky, a low-keyed yet complex romance. The story is aboutYigal, a divorced taxi-driver who remains in close contact with his ex-wife and her new husband in order to be close to his son. His personal dream is to visit Paris, but he is terrified of flying.

Picking up his son from afternoon choir practice, Yigal slowly and tentatively becomes emotionally involved with the music teacher, an immigrant from Russia. At first glance, the two seem to be from different worlds. Yigal is an uneducated cab driver and the music teacher seems to be more worldly and educated. Nonetheless, they enjoy spending time together and a gentle and sweet relationship develops between the two, which slowly becomes more complex as the two become emotionally involved.

Check out this lovely story of the complexities of a new attraction on youtube. The film is available from Go2Films.

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