Afterthought by Elad Keidan

Chance Encounters on the Slopes of Haifa

Afterthought (היורד למעלה ),directed by Elad Keidan, is an absurd and quirky comedy about two lonely and unhappy men in Haifa.  Middle-aged Moshe is walking up the steep mountain stairs, searching for his wife's lost earring, an earring that he gave her when they got married.  Uri is descending the mountain, on his way to the port in order to board a commercial ship in an effort to flee from his problems.  Each man encounters a bunch of interesting characters along the way.

Moshe meets a humorous Arab-Israeli lawyer and in a chance meeting discovers what happened to his wife's earring.  Uri stops in a pub along the way and eventually meets the members of his barbershop quartet, who have come to see him off at the port.   In a surreal moment, they perform a number (in both English and Hebrew).  Moshe and Uri's experiences ascending and descending the mountain are intercut and at one point along the way, they actually intersect, creating an encounter which deals with childhood memories and friendships gone by.  This leads also to a fascinating courtroom scene in which Uri finds himself vouching for a childhood friend.

Although the film is slow-paced and there is a fair amount of repetition, there is also a lot of humor and charm in the surreal episodes.  This is a film about friendship, betrayal, and ambivalence concerning military reserve duty.

Afterthought is available internationally from the Match Factory.