Holechet Shiva

The idea here was to set up a situation and let the actors wing it with minimal preparation and minimal shooting time. For some additional appeal, there's dramatic desert scenery. I wish I'd seen the movie on the big screen, but I think it never did have a theatrical run outside the cinematheques and festivals. The lead actress, Miki Kam, is impressive in her emotional scenes, as indeed are the other actresses. (The men don't get emotional scenes.) But early on, there's no sense that much of a plot has been laid down other than the opportunity for a succession of cute improvisations along what appears to be an African Queen kind of arc minus the danger. Later, some minor characters are introduced, linked by heavy coincidence to the major characters, and so another dimension opens up, but the minor characters are rather less interesting. When everything seems to be nearing a finish, the story is enriched by some last-minute interactions and retrospective exposition, but unfortunately there's still not enough compensation for the lack of a thorough start-to-finish script-- or else a long spell of rehearsal and shooting. The premise was there, the character relationships were there, the talent was there, but the time wasn't put in and the serendipity on site was a mite weak. Still a nice movie, but falls short of what its gifted team could have created.