Boxing

White Panther (directed by Dani Reisfeld) is a feature film filled with tension and drama, and also lots of boxing.  It is interesting that in many films we have seen how sports, and boxing specifically, can be a method to take a youngster out of the slums and set him on a different path.  Here, we see the same thing, set against the background of Russian immigrants living in Tiberias.  

Following the large immigration of Jews from the Former Soviet Union in the 1990s, most of the immigrants acclimated and became integrated into Israeli society.  However, there were those who could not find their place here, and were very resentful of the discrimination that they encountered, who closed themselves into their own societies and own neighborhoods.  This is the story of a gang of Russian hooligans, working for the Russian mob, who hate everything about Israeli society due to the fact that they have not been able to  find their place within it. 

Alex's family is falling apart.  He is the teenage son of Russian immigrants and already has a police record.   His father was killed in action during the intifada and his older brother, his replacement father figure, is  trying to get him involved in a gang of hooligans.  But, a local cop (of Moroccan background) takes notice and gives Alex a chance to follow his dream and become a boxing champion, just like his father.  

There is forbidden love -- between Alex and the cop's daughter -- and there is a very strong family element -- Alex is very connected to his mother, who, although unable to get up from her sickbed, is trying desperately to protect Alex from following in the footsteps of his big brother. 

 The film portrays shocking hatred between ethnic groups -- terrible discrimination that is shown against the Russian youngsters by native-born Israelis -- and a surprising amount of violence and crime in the slums of Tiberias. The cop (played by Zev Revach) -- who also becomes a father figure to Alex -- talks about how he himself experienced  discrimination as a Moroccan immigrant when he came to this country, just as Alex and his friends are experiencing discrimination today.   (Not exactly a subtle script element since I felt this parallel should have been understood by the viewer and did not need to be explained -- especially since the title of the film refers to the fact that the Moroccans were called Black Panthers back in the 1970s and 1980s when they were organizing against the widespread discrimination that they encountered.)

Although it is a bit shocking to see this underbelly of Israeli society, I still thought the pacing and tension and drama were superb and that White Panther, albeit a tough film, is a film not to be missed.  It is available from Israeli Films

The World is Funny by Shemi Zarhin

Screenwriter and director Shemi Zarhin is known for his award-winning films Passover Fever (1995), Dangerous Acts (1998), Monsieur Shlomi (2003) and Aviva My Love (2006).  His latest film, The World is Funny, opened this week in Israeli movie theaters.  All of his films can be characterized as having a complex script, authentic and well-delineated quirky characters, intelligent grappling with issues of gender, and superb directing.  Two of these films, Aviva My Love and Passover Fever have previously been reviewed on this blog.  Aviva My Love and The World is Funny, both take place in Zarhin's hometown, Tiberias.  

Born in 1961, Zarhin studied journalism and public relations and then received a BA (1986) from Tel Aviv University in the Dept. of Film and TV. He taught filmmaking at Tel Aviv University (1989-1994) and at the Sam Spiegel Film and TV School in Jerusalem (1990-1999).  In addition to directing, he is a novelist and an accomplished screenwriter, having written the screenplays for his own films and for others (including co-scriptwriter of one of my favorites -- Ayelet Menahemi's Noodle 2007). 

In his new film, The World is Funny, he uses a type of narrator or story-teller.  She is a muse who goes from house to house, toting her mop and broom, learning people's stories which she uses for her material as a participant in a writing workshop, taking place at the Tiberias library.  The participants in the workshop, a wonderful array of diverse characters, make up the background chorus, like in a Greek tragedy, relating  modern-day fables. This background is provided for the tragic stories of the three main characters -- Yardena is a bereaved mother, having lost her daughter in the army;  Miron has lost his wife in a terrible car  accident in which his older son was badly hurt;  Golan is desperately in love with a woman dying of cancer.  These three people, who have suffered terrible tragedies,  are siblings, whose stories intertwine as the film develops. 

Golan is crazy about the Gashash and seeks out Shaike (from the Gashash) to come and entertain his dying sweetheart. Shaike actually appears in a number of scenes and sings on stage at the conclusion of the film -- singing Naomi Shemer's Lu Yehi, backed up by a children's chorus , giving the otherwise old-fashioned song more of a hip and upbeat melody.

Notwithstanding the vulgarity, this is a quirky film about the fine line between tragedy and comedy, about whether stories reflect reality or reality is just a story being told, about bereavement and family relationships,  about living in the past and not being able to cope with the present, about living in the world of fiction when reality is too difficult to bear.

Contact info: talia@piefilms.co.il or osnat.h.k.@gmail.com