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Reviews
No. 17 (2003)
A fantastic documentary
Just saw this incredible documentary on the search for the 17th victim of an Israeli bus bombing which occurred in June 2002. The film was brilliant in that it exposed parts of the Israeli/Palestinian war never before brought to light. Though this film is surrounded by politics, it strays from being political itself and instead focuses on the humanity of the unknown victim and the process by which the crew attempts to piece together clues in order to identify the victim. There were so many clues and dead ends that the crew ended up with 110 hours of footage, but what eventually remained was a stroke of genius mixed with a great deal of compassion.
Massa'ot James Be'eretz Hakodesh (2003)
Food for thought
I really liked this film because it exposed something we Israelis don't like to bring out into the light: the negative consequences of not being a fryer. I think that in Israel, people are just so focused on not being taken advantage of that they often don't think about how they themselves pimp others. I also found it fascinating how James listened to Mr. Salah's bad advice and Mr. Salah listened to James' bad advice, (which led to unhappiness for both) out of trust in one another. It was really interesting that no Israeli/Palestinian politics entered the arena--it's impossible to live life in Israel without being highly sensitive to the political situation, and as such most Israeli films touch upon it in some way or another. I liked how this one didn't, though because I think that beyond Israeli/Palestinian issues, there are a lot of other problems Israeli society faces and often overlooks. Definitely a film with an important statement about being Israeli.
Yossi & Jagger (2002)
A touching, thought provoking film
Reallyreally remarkable.I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since I saw it yesterday. It's a movie based on homosexuality in a very macho environment, and yet, there is nothing expressly queer about Yossi and Jagger's relationship--this is a love story and a human story more than a gay story. The worst part of all is that it's also a true story.