Dolphin Boy

We all know the Power of Dolphins and how majestic they are, but this film was the most moving I have watched in a very long time.

The love, time, attention and total devotion from his father, the sheer determination he wanted his boy back was, incredible.

The end result was so uplifting, it was simply, absolutely wonderfully fabulous.

There are many great things about Dolphin Boy. One is it's power despite a simple and basic no frills approach to film-making, a clear indicator of a wonderful story. A great start for any documentary.

The story is certainly extraordinary and interesting in how it's content unravels, but what struck me most was how easy it is to connect emotionally with the thoughts and feelings captured from those most involved in the situation, (primarily dolphin boy himself and his father,) which are wholly honest and refreshingly simple (perhaps indirectly facilitated to a certain extent by English subtitles translating and maybe simplifying the Hebrew speech.) Whatever the reason, one cannot help but be gripped by the psychological changes and developments in dolphin boy himself and the absolute love and devotion of his father. There are only subtle reminders of the wider social situation in play and developments 'within the wider world' as it were, and these work very well to keep us informed but not divert or tangent from the sole focus of the film.

And perhaps that's the point. When true relationships are completely at stake the wider world is always there but appears in comparison as a kind of translucent backdrop to resolving and nurturing that which really matters.

Watch it and see what happens.

Whenever one sees an Israeli film that includes Arabs, one can assume a meaningful "message" will follow. And that does happen here but in a totally unpredictable way. This movie is about the power of love, but also the strength of love. The depicted relationship of the father and son transcend boundaries we may have seen before, let alone been lucky enough to experience personally. Selflessness, devotion, patience, persistence, and TIME. This miracle took 4 years to accomplish. (I couldn't help thinking that in the US after the initial treatment failures, this young man would have been institutionalized to remain lost in his personal limbo; insurance would not cover this therapy.) I realize I'm reading translations but even the language used by the father and son were poetic (not exact but "he is the blood that runs in my veins," "who can love her more than I," or when the son finally acknowledges his mother after 2 years, she says that the milk came into her breast as if he was newborn). An incredible confluence of events made this film possible. Please see it