During the last year or two, there have been a lot of
Israeli feature films on the subject of life in the haredi (ultra-orthodox)
community. The award-winning Geula, directed
by Joseph Madmony and Boaz Yehonatan Yacov, is such a film! It is an honest, passionate, and touching portrait
of one particular man.
Menachem works in
a haredi grocery store. Once, 15 years
ago, he was the lead singer for a rock band. But today, he is a religious man, a single father
of a six-year-old daughter. In order to
earn some money, Menachem decides to search for his old friends and put together
the band to perform at orthodox weddings.
Similar to the Blues Brothers, Menachem sets out to visit each
of his friends in order to ask them to help him put back together the band –
for a higher cause. In this film, it’s
to help Menachem raise the funds he needs for his daughter’s chemo-therapy.
Menachem is not exactly a talkative fellow, but he does
succeed in drawing us in, helping us understand who he is, and what happened to
his wife. As the wedding band becomes a
success, there are problematic effects on each of his friends. But eventually, his friends help him
reconnect with his past and to come to grips with what he is searching for in
his own life.
The title Geula (Redemption) is his daughter’s
name. It also refers to Menachem’s searching for some sort of personal redemption
as we see him change and develop within the film.
Geula, a surprisingly compelling and touching film, filled with some great music, is available from Transfax Films.
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