Sof Ha'Olam Smola

This movie is full of characters and incidents, almost as if the writers felt they might never have the chance to write again, but I think that consistently it is about people trying to repair their wounded pride. The two immigrant communities involved-- assigned housing not in the center of Israel nor yet in Eilat (the road sign says it's 170 kilometers to Eilat) but in a tiny desert town-- have different native languages but they share a resentment at having come down in the world from their pre-emigrant lives and seeing no way back. The men resent their factory jobs and ultimately strike against their employer. Some of the women resent their lack of opportunity and try to prove their worth by taking lovers. The story is set in the 1960s and includes occasional narration from the point of view of the present, making it a sort of "Our Town" or "I Remember Mama" saluting the loved ones of the past-- as if everything were different now, although in today's society too the argument could still be made that geography is destiny.

In Avi Nesher's warm and humorous film, very British Indians settle in a dry town near the desert and must learn to cope with their French speaking Moroccan neighbors. That they are all Jews helps little; there are major differences in language, customs, and attitudes. Set in 1968 and narrated by Sarah, the teenage daughter from Bombay, the film deals gently but genuinely with the problems of adolescent angst as well as more serious issues of struggling immigrants dumped by the bureaucracy in a remote border town. Despite the insistence of Nicole, Sarah's friend and the sixteen year old town beauty, that nothing locally is worth chronicling, the film is particularly adept at depicting the greatest passions in the most ordinary people. Though the narrator is not always aware of it, there are love affairs, labor unrest, tragic illness, jealousies, and other personal dramas. The larger issues include a strike at the bottling plant, the town's only employer, and a visit by the championship cricket team, arranged by the British consulate. Although the Moroccan Jews initially jeer this "child's game," they eventually join the Indian ex pats for the match, with predictably hilarious and disastrous results. By the time adulthood arrives with the girls receiving their notice for the Army, we have a sense how new Israelis are formed from their varied ethnic backgrounds.

Nesher's casting is impeccable, down to the smallest role. Particularly wonderful is the way he matches the tall, statuesque Moroccan wife with her short, older, balding husband, and makes their caring relationship totally believable. The fact is that all the characters are memorable, from the sexy widow upstairs, to the handsome Indian dance teacher, to the Tel Aviv poet, teaching high school in the desert. Despite its mixture of spoken Hebrew, English, French, pidgin, and gestures, the excellent subtitles manage to convey even puns effectively. This polyglot of languages, as the clashing customs, reminds us just how very diverse Jews are, how the cultures of their birth countries create a Jewishness that is never monolithic, until, perhaps, it is transformed into "Israeliness."

I have watched this film 2.5 times and it has touched me from start to finish . Sure it is entertainment , but isn't that what the movies are for ? I will recommend it for a Film Festival I am Chairing The acting is credible.The two protagonist are divine in their own ways & the narrative flow keeps one involved from the charming beginning to the surprise ending . There are so few pleasant movies coming out of Israel to offset the gloom and doom and directors constant attacks at Israeli Society, therefor this one wins in the charm parade .It is a just a great flick for mature audiences. Watch it and be drawn in as you take the voyages of discovery with the protagonists . R J LIFF

It is true that this film was a major hit in Israel and no wonder one can easily guess why ? One wild guess is that it did all it could to portray a hippie dippy picture of the immigrant question.The immigrants in question are from India and Morocco and the film is about their efforts to find a firm footing within Israelian society.The film fails to score as its depiction of immigrants is much too unreal,lacks credibility and to top it all a lot of irrelevant material is added which bears no link to the film's plot line.The Indian actors in this film have been dubbed as failures in India and watching them act in an Israelian film the people wondered as to how they landed such roles for themselves.The game of cricket in a film from Israel like this one was a pure gimmick as the film maker wanted to cash the popularity of this sport in Asian subcontinent.This is a film one must watch only to ascertain what made it so famous.

I think this movie is totally false advertised. It is NOT about LGBTQ+ stuff, the two girls didn't fall in love w/ each other, they only kiss once, you can see this among the pictures. But I really liked how the movie pointed out the struggles both Moroccan and Indian Jews faced. Also, the abundance of languages (Hebrew, French and English) is really the strongest feature of this movie, so if you're a polyglot, you will enjoy this film. So if you expect an LGBT movie, you will be disappointed, but if you just want to see a family-friendly piece, about youth, about the 60s in Israel and about what it's like to be a newcomer in the country, you will be satisfied with this movie.