Once again here is Peter Martin from the AFI Festival, this time looking at this year's Best Foreign Film Oscar submission from Israel.
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A narrow escape from the border patrol. A roadside sexual tryst. An unhappy senior citizen. These skeletal snippets are slowly fleshed out into absorbing stories about the impact of immigration in this striking film by Israeli director Eyal Halfon.
Featuring an ensemble cast and characters who prove to be linked in some way, the picture calls to mind everything from Robert Altman's NASHVILLE to Paul Haggis' CRASH. Disarming in its modesty, WHAT A WONDERFUL PLACE does not come close to scaling the heights of Altman's classic -- to begin with, it features far fewer characters -- but it resists the urge to underline and repeat every "significant" moment, a trap that marred CRASH.
The brief opening scenes are intentionally disorienting and approximate the feeling of a new arrival in a strange land. Jana (Evelyn Kaplun) and other women from Russia are smuggled into Israel by Franco (Uri Gavriel), who promptly delivers them to his boss (Dvir Benedek). In short order the women find themselves transformed into prostitutes, all save Jana -- the large birthmark on her face means she can eke out only a meager living as a waitress as she struggles to save money for the daughter she left behind.
Franco has his own problems. He was a cop before leaving the force for a reason that's not initially explained, and now is barely able to care for his family. As a caretaker for the prostitutes, he finds himself drawn to Jana, and begins to feel protective toward her.
Meanwhile, overweight Zelter (Avi Oria) deals with the cultural differences posed by Thai laborers on the farm that he runs, even as Yoav (Yoav Hait), a nature reserve Ranger, harasses the immigrants but appreciates the help his father (Yossi Graber) receives from a Filipino home care attendant (Raymond Bagatsing) -- in a sub-plot that is somewhat similar to the Matt Dillon sub-plot in CRASH.
Director Halfon displays a firm command of his craft, shifting effortlessly between scenarios. His earlier films include 1999's CIRCUS PALESTINA (about a Russian circus that causes havoc in a Palestinian community) and 1996's THE ITALIANS ARE COMING (about members of an Italian water polo team and a kibbutz); he's also made a number of documentaries. Clearly the clash of cultures and the way that foreign peoples are shaping Israel remain touchstones for the director.
The film is not able to entirely leave behind its archetypes, but Halfon mixes documentary and narrative stylistic touches to generally good effect, drawing sufficiently upon the emotions of the viewer so that we care deeply about the fate of the characters.
WHAT A WONDERFUL PLACE is Israel's official submission for Best Foreign Language Film. It does not yet have U.S. distribution. It will have its North American Premiere at AFI FEST on Wednesday, November 9 at 7:15
p.m. and Friday, November 11, at 3:30 p.m.
More information is available at the AFI FEST web site.
Review by Peter Martin.
I am so happy that I saw this film before reading this review, so that I didn't know the plot in advance!
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