This is a bleak, Faulkneresque story. An old man owns a little orchard, and his family consists of unhappy people who can't get along with one another. It's not easy to identify a central character, and there's certainly not any character the audience is particularly inclined to root for or identify with. In fact, I didn't find anyone's motivations very clear, except that everyone is lonely, resentful, and sexually frustrated. The movie may be a case of BOANS-- Based-On-A-Novel Syndrome. It could be that one has to read the novel (I haven't) in order to understand the point behind all the misery and friction. The setting is pre-state Israel in the lead-up to World War II, and the movie does render the time and place well. The loneliness and sparseness of the lifestyle is nicely reflected in the music, which features a wordless soprano solo.
