Everything is Broken Up and Dances, starring
and directed by Nony Geffen, is a difficult film about a young man suffering
from PTSD. It is also about the strength
and importance of friendship.
During the 2014 war in Gaza, Nony is called up to miluim
(military reserve duty). Riding into
Gaza in a troop carrier, when asked why he still does miluim, the fellow
sitting next to him says it’s for the “hevreh” – for his buddies. And this is what the film is all about.
Nony’s troop carrier takes a direct hit and some of the
soldiers in it are killed, but Nony survives, only to return home in the throes
of a psychotic breakdown. Although they
have tried very hard, his parents despair of getting through to him and they
agree when his friends offer to care for him.
It is Nony’s best friend, Rotem –- played by Dudu Tassa who is both a superb
actor and singer – whose friendship helps to coax Nony out of his psychotic state.
Originally named for his uncle Amnon, a musician, who died
fighting in the Yom Kippur War, Nony begins to take on the persona of
Amnon. Although it is not without
controversy, his psychiatrist approves of this personality change as a form of
shellshock therapy. With Rotem’s help, Nony
begins to live the life of this gregarious character and becomes a rock phenomenon
appearing in a Tel Aviv pub to cheering crowds and groupies (including a young woman
who becomes his hanger-on girlfriend). Meanwhile, the flashbacks of the
terrible attack on the troop carrier persist in Amnon/Nony’s consciousness and
in his dreams.
Athough not at all realistic (in fact, the premise is quite
over-the-top), the film is well-scripted (the script was edited by Assi Dayan
before he passed away), with great music and compelling characters. It provides
us with some important insights into the lives of Jewish Tel Avivians who must
cope with war and yet go on with life. The songs, on the one hand, are about issues
of life and death (“Don’t light a candle for me”) and, on the other hand, are
about Israeli youth and their values.
Everything is Broken Up and Dances is
distributed by United King. Watch the trailer !
Nony Geffen’s feature debut film was Not in Tel Aviv,
2014.
If you are interested in the subject of shellshock -- two important Israeli films about shellshock were made back in the late 1980s – Shellshock
by Yoel Sharon and Burning Memory (Resisim) by Yossi Somer. More recently, the film Beneath the Silence also deals with shellshock.
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