THE FAREWELL PARTY (Fin de partie) ***1/2 (vo Hebrew) Here’s an upscale Israeli senior home with a group of old friends, now in the twilight of their lives. They share leisure moments, meals, sports and care for and know each other intimately. So when one of them is suffering from an incurable illness, the group hesitantly agrees to help put him out of his misery. Problem is, their success makes them highly sought after…
This could have been a maudlin, uncomfortable film; instead it is a crazy/gentle comedy based on compassion and a great deal of reality, by the Israeli duo-directors, Sharon Maymon and Tal Granit. Here is Jewish wisdom and humor at its best and most human, with a great crew of goldenoldies playing it to the hilt. See it before it’s gone!
(Photos – Frenetic)
Here is a film to MISS to save yourself time, money and a headache…
A PIGEON SAT ON A BRANCH REFLECTING ON EXISTENCE... (vo Swedish) This is supposed to be artistic brilliance (it has many critics of the Emperor’s-New-Clothes variety enraptured…), and it even won top prize at the Venice film fest last year. It’s by the bizarre Swedish director, Roy Andersson, who comes out occasionally with utterly depressing and drab judgements on the human condition. And his fans call it genius comedy. With last year’s Les nouveaux sauvages (Wild Tales), the Argentineans showed the absurdity of man’s behaviour with sharp humor, intelligence and panache. As did the delightfully understated 2003 film on life and characters, Coffee and Cigarettes, by Jim Jarmusch. Andersson instead offers us a series of vapid sketches in sickly grey/yellow decor, with homely characters and sparse, repetitive dialogue about nothing. Enough to make you want to shoot yourself! I left a few times, came back, same misery. This sort of “intellectual” BS really hurts, especially when it’s taken as art. If you go with the “other” advice, let me know your thoughts…
(Photos – Look Now!)
Neptune Ravar Ingwersen reviews film extensively for publications in Germany and Switzerland. She views 4 to 8 films a week and her aim is to sort the wheat from the chaff for readers.
