This is one of the few really good Israeli movies. It doesn't try to be a big movie, nor does it try to turn smallness into an advantage by going pretentiously arty. It retells a modest bit of local history, from a vantage point close enough to be knowing but distant enough to be unselfconscious. It makes us care about the characters, each capable of so much more than life has allowed them. There should be more movies like this one.