The Other Story

This is the story of 2 families. The psychiatrist family daughter Anat has followed her musician boyfriend into Orthodox Judaism, and will soon marry. Grandfather Shlomo and mother Tali are desperate to stop the marriage, and get "abandoned her" father Yonatan to come back from the U.S. to help. Meanwhile, Shlomo's few remaining clients include a divorcing couple with a young son caught in a custody battle, with the mother having joined a feminist pagan circle and insisting on bringing her son to its rituals. Eventually, Anat is recruited to join the rituals as an observer, to determine if they are dangerous to the boy. As Yonatan discovers untruths about Anat's boyfriend, Anat has to decide if truth is the an absolute, highest value.

The overlapping family dynamics are intriguing, as well as the hidden motives of various characters. I am not usually into dysfunctional-family stories, but this is a thrilling standout.

An Israeli storyline that is, in part, about a father as a humanist Jew, and more generally about the problems that we create can have different POVs & thus solutions. In this script this father has problems w/his estranged daughter; his divorced wife; & his business associate. The problems come together about the time his daughter decides not to go to the US for her college education, but instead, against family wishes, decides to stay & marry an Orthodox Jew with a controversial history. A decision making dilemma occurs that exposes each of their POVS thus ending up making apparent the solutions to their problems. Note: This quote from the movie about Orthodoxy "Men are forbidden from hearing women sing, not the other way around."

I'm impressed a man wrote and directed this film, concerned with the fragility of human relationships

I'm so glad I saw this with the man himself presenting the film in the Monterrey Film Festival. Boom! the credits. When I least expect it, 2 hours have passed, I mean, not many films have that characteristic while maintaining the highest quality in terms of screenwriting and acting. I remember Avi Nesher said its movie don't have the traditional 3 act structure, which makes it very enjoyable in a fresh and interesting way. It was also very cool to watch a Israeli film without clichés or stereotypes, portraying their culture and millennial traditions with respect in a contemporary world. This is proof that if you want to make an incredibly fresh action film you don't need cars, explosions or serial murders. You need a good crew, you need to bring love to your work, you need courage to step outside the conventional boundaries without sacrificing the public's enjoyment. This exhales love and respect for the observer, and I really appreciate it. It's warm, it's interesting, it's new.

BONUS! The song in the bar scene was BEAUTIFUL! I completely loved the quality of the sound, it was very rich and moving, even if I didn't understand a word.

Wow. The story is so relatable and still has moments of tention, humor and peace. Great point of view on complecated issues in Israeli society.